Community Organizing

David Walls is professor emeritus of sociology at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California.  He is co-editor of Appalachia in the Sixties and author of The Activist’s Almanac.  He worked with the Appalachian Volunteers, a community organizing project in the central Appalachian coalfields, from 1966 to 1970. He presently is a member of the leadership council of the North Bay Organizing Project.

• 1. Introduction: Making Change2. Saul Alinsky and the Industrial Areas Foundation3. An Organizing Worldview4. Tools of the Trade5. New Networks Innovate6. Organizing and Electoral Politics7. Alternative Approaches8. What’s Next?AcknowledgementsBibliography

A superb comprehensive reading of the social, intellectual, and political history of community organizing in the U.S. The clear and engaging account of the central guiding ideas from Alinsky to Ganz, plus outlining possibilities for the future, makes for very worthwhile and enjoyable reading. It lays out basic concepts and elements of community organizing while at the same time offering real on-the-ground stories of real people who did real things in relation to creating social change.Susan A. Ostrander, Tufts University Community Organizing is actually three books in one: a scholarly analysis of the key components of successful movements for social change, drawing on the most important thinkers and theories from the past and present; a compendium of contemporary case studies of grassroots organizing efforts on a wide range of issues; and a “how to” manual for activists who want to apply these lessons in the real world. Walls’ book is accessible, well-written, and up-to-date. People who teach and practice community organizing will want this book on their shelves.Peter Dreier, Occidental College