Version 2.1 (March 1, 2008) (Added readings; changed date of last class and due date for last paper)

Theory and Practice of Community Organizing
PS 389 (Section 7) meets with RCSSCI 360 (Section 3)

Gregory B. Markus
Professor of Political Science and Research Professor, Center for Political Studies
6735 Haven Hall
(734) 763-2222, gmarkus@umich.edu

Class meets: Wednesdays. 1:10 to 3:00 pm, Tyler 139 (East Quad)
Office hours: Tuesdays, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, or by appointment

COURSE OVERVIEW

After he graduated from college and before he entered Harvard Law School, U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) worked for three years as a community organizer on Chicago's south side. According to Obama:

Organizing begins with the premise that (1) the problems facing inner-city communities do not result from a lack of effective solutions, but from a lack of power to implement these solutions; (2) that the only way for communities to build viable long-term power is by organizing people and money around a common vision; and (3) that a viable organization can only be achieved if a broadly based indigenous leadership -- and not one or two charismatic leaders -- can knit together the diverse interests of their local institutions.

In this course we will study, question, put into action, and reflect upon what Sen. Obama was talking about. Through readings, discussion, writing, and practical action, you will learn how to develop effective, resilient organizations that build the leadership capacities of individuals and the democratic power of communities to control their own futures. In addition, you will gain insight into how this practical work can inform our understandings of democratic theory and organizational processes -- and vice versa.

The purpose of this course is not only to help you acquire a body of knowledge. It is to provide a setting in which you can think seriously about what you intend to accomplish as "leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future." That phrase is from the official mission statement of the University of Michigan.

How the Course Proceeds

Class meetings: Because we typically meet as a class only once a week and because this is, after all, a course in organizing, missing a session is to be avoided at all costs. Students who miss more than one session may be asked to drop the course. Really.

Experiential learning: You will engage in relevant activities and events out of class (including in metropolitan Detroit) as an integral part of this course, and you should expect to devote approximately 25 hours (plus travel time) to such experiential learning over the semester. Keep a journal of your experiences and reflections. Your journal will be useful for preparing your four papers (see below) and for your own reference, in this class and in the future.

Grading

Grading is on a standard, no-curve 100-point system. There is no competition among you for a pre-set number of "A" grades. To the contrary, I encourage cooperation, studying together, and learning from one another. Of course, all work that you turn in must be your own. If you put your head and heart into this course, you will surely excel, and your grade will reflect that. Having said that, I have seen outstanding, even admirable students contract "senioritis" in the final semester of their undergraduate education. If you are a graduating senior, please bear in mind that your classmates and the community leaders with whom we will be working deserve no less than your best effort.

Papers. You will write four 2000-word papers during the semester, worth 15 points each (60 points total). In each of paper, you will (1) comment upon our readings and class discussions and (2) summarize the key insights you are acquiring from your experiential learning activities. Please submit your paper to me by email. Paper deadlines are as noted below. Except in the case of a significant emergency, these papers must be submitted on time.

Paper assignment schedule:

Paper 1 covers Jan 9 - Jan 25, due by 9 pm Tues, Jan 29
Paper 2 covers Jan 26 - Feb 15, due by 9 pm Tues, Feb 19
Paper 3 covers Feb 16 - Mar 14, due by 9 pm Tues, Mar 18
Paper 4 covers Mar 15 - Apr 11, due by 9 pm Fri, Apr 18

Participation. An additional 20 points reflect the quality and consistency of your participation in our class discussions, including in-class presentations at the end of the semester. (There is no final exam.) The last 20 points are based on the seriousness and depth of your engagement in our experiential learning activities. Active, consistent participation, both in class and in the field, is an essential element of this course. If you are not resolved to fulfill this obligation, you should not take the course.

COURSE READINGS

I suggest that you purchase the following books for this course:

Jacobsen, Dennis A. 2001. Doing Justice. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Obama, Barack. 2004 [1995]. Dreams from My Father. New York: Three Rivers Press.

Warren, Mark R. 2001. Dry Bones Rattling. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Nearly all other required readings (and most supplementary ones) are available through links in our online syllabus, which is available through a link from my homepage: http://www.umich.edu/~gmarkus/. Any required readings not available online will be distributed in class or placed on reserve in the library.

In the Course Outline below, readings marked with an asterisk are to be read by everyone. The supplementary readings are there for you to sample as you wish, or as I assign to individual students from time to time for them to present in class.

Many journal articles are available online through ProQuest, JSTOR, or other services. A simple way to locate journals online is to search for the journal title in MIRLYN. It will serve you well to become experienced in using these services.

COURSE OUTLINE

Jan 9. Introduction to the Course and Overview of Organizing

* Obama, Barack. 1990. "Why organize? Problems and promise in the inner city." In Peg Knoepfle (ed.), After Alinsky: Community Organizing in Illinois. Springfield, IL: Illinois Issues, University of Illinois at Springfield, Ch. 4.

* Ganz, Marshal.  2004. "Organizing." In George R. Goethals, Georgia J. Sorenson, and James MacGregor Burns, eds. Encyclopedia of Leadership. Vol. 3. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Parachini, Larry, and Sally Covington. 2001. "Community organizing: The basics." The Community Organizing Toolbox. Washington, DC: National Funders Group.

* Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father, chapters 7-10, 12-14.

10 am, Hill Auditorium. Lou Gossett, Jr., MLK Symposium keynote address

1 pm, Power Center, Danny Glover with Felix Justice, "An Afternoon with Martin and Langston"

6 pm, MOSES MLK Banquet. Burton Manor, 27777 Schoolcraft Rd, Livonia

* Shown in class: "Awakenings (1954-1956)" (excerpts), from "Eyes on the Prize" (1987), produced and directed by Judith Vecchione.

* Jacobsen. Doing Justice. Chapters 1-3, 5, 6.

* Arnstein, Sherry R. 1969. "A ladder of citizen participation," Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35 (July): 216-224.

* Markus, Gregory B. 2002. "Civic participation in American cities." Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, pp. 1-29 and section 10 (pp. 38-42).

* Dahle, Cheryl. 1999. "Social justice - Ernesto Cortes, Jr." Fast Company, 30 (Dec.)

Bachrach, Peter, and Morton Baratz. 1962. "Two faces of power," American Political Science Review 56 (4): 947-52.

Speer, Paul W., and Joseph Hughey. 1995. "Community organizing: An ecological route to empowerment and power," American Journal of Community Psychology, 23 (5): 729-748.

Pierce, Gregory F. A. 1984. Activism That Makes Sense: Congregations and Community Organization. Chicago: ACTA Publications. Introduction and Chapters 1-4.

Gaventa, John. 1980. Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Kozol, Jonathan. 1995. Amazing Grace. New York: HarperPerennial.

* Jacobsen. Doing Justice. Chapters 7, 8.

* Warren. Dry Bones Rattling. Chapters 1, 8.

* McNeil, Larry B. 1995. "The soft arts of organizing," Social Policy, 26 (2): 16- 22.

* Markus, Gregory B. 2002. "Civic participation in American cities." Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research. Read Section 9 (pp. 32-38).

Harris, Fredrick C. 1994. "Something within: Religion as a mobilizer of African-American activism," Journal of Politics, 56 (1): 42-68.

Chavez, Cesar. 1966. "The organizer's tale," Ramparts (July 5): 43-50.

Green, Louise. (n.d.) "Sustainable action: Planting the seeds of relational organizing." Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association.

McAdam, Doug. 1986. "Recruitment to high-risk activism: The case of Freedom Summer," American Journal of Sociology, 2 (1): 64-90.

Pierce, Gregory F. A. 1984. Activism That Makes Sense: Congregations and Community Organization. Chicago: ACTA Publications. Chapter 7.

Borgos, Seth, and Scott Douglas. 1996. "Community organizing and civic renewal: A view from the South," Social Policy, 27 (Winter): 18-28.

Stall, Susan, and Randy Stoecker. 1998. "Community organizing or organizing community?: Gender and the crafts of empowerment," Gender and Society, 12 (Dec): 729-756.

Boyte, Harry. 1990. CommonWealth: A Return to Citizen Politics. New York: Free Press. Chapter 6 (excerpts).

Chambers, Ed. 2003. Roots for Radicals. New York: Continuum. Ch. 2, 4.

* Jacobsen. Doing Justice. Chapter 4.

* Warren. Dry Bones Rattling. Chapters 2, 7.

* Jensen, Richard J., and John C. Hammerback. 2000. "Working in 'quiet places': The community organizing rhetoric of Robert Parris Moses," Howard Journal of Communications, 11 (1): 1-18.

Websites of: DART, Gamaliel, IAF, PICO, and ACORN ... also RCNO, NTIC, and Midwest Academy!

Parachini, Larry, and Sally Covington. 2001. "Types of CO groups and the work they do." The Community Organizing Toolbox. Washington, DC: National Funders Group.

Reitzes, Donald C., and Dietrich C. Reitzes. 1987. "Alinsky in the 1980s: Two contemporary Chicago community organizations," Sociological Quarterly, 28 (2): 265-283.

Speer, Paul W., Joseph Hughey, Leah K. Gensheimer, and Warren Adams-Leavitt. 1995. "Organizing for power: A comparative case study," Journal of Community Psychology, 23: 57-73.

Moses, Robert P., and Charles Cobb Jr. 2001. "Organizing algebra: The need to voice a demand," Social Policy, 31 (4): 4-12.

Alinsky, Saul. 1969. Reveille for Radicals. New York: Vintage.

Alinsky, Saul. 1989. Rules for Radicals. New York: Vintage.

Fisher, Robert. 1994. Let the People Decide: Neighborhood Organizing in America. Updated ed. New York: Twayne.

Gecan, Michael. Going Public. Boston: Beacon Press.

Horwitt, Sanford D. 1989. Let Them Call Me Rebel. New York: Knopf.

Matthiessen, Peter. 2000. Sal Si Puedes (Escape If You Can): Cesar Chavez and the New American Revolution. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Morris, Aldon. 1984. Origins of the Civil Rights Movement: Black Communities Organizing for Change. New York: Free Press.

Payne, Charles M. 1995. I've Got the Light of Freedom. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Rooney, Jim. 1995. Organizing the South Bronx. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

* Jacobsen. Doing Justice. Chapter 9.

* Warren. Dry Bones Rattling. Chapters 4, 5.

* Kurth, Joel, et al. 2001. "Region is diverse, not mixed: Metro Detroit is most segregated area in nation, census shows," Detroit News (April 1).

* Morin, Richard. 2001. "Misperceptions cloud whites' view of blacks," Washington Post (July 11), p. A1.

* Lowenstein, Roger. 2006. "The immigration equation," New York Times Magazine (July 9).

Gecan, Mike. 2005. "Taking faith seriously," Boston Review, 30 (April/May).

Lerner, Michael. 2004. "Needed: A new spiritual left," America Magazine, 191 (Nov. 29).

Wood, Richard L. 2002. Faith in Action: Religion, Race, and Democratic Organizing in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Naples, Nancy A., ed. 1998/ Community Activism and Feminist Politics: Organizing across Race, Class, and Gender. New York: Routledge.

Stout, Linda. 1996. Bridging the Class Divide. Boston: Beacon Press.

* Freeman, Jo. 1972-73. "The tyranny of structurelessness," Berkeley Journal of Sociology, 17: 151-165.

* Bobo, Kim, Jackie Kendall, and Steve Max. 2001. Organizing for Social Change, 3rd ed. Santa Ana, CA: Seven Locks Press. Chapter 12.

* "Six tips for effective meetings" 

Lencioni, Patrick M, 2002. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Mar 5. Action, Reflection, and Celebration

Class visit by Victoria Kovari, Field Director, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good

* Bagwell, Jennifer. 1999. "Let there be mass transit," Detroit Metrotimes (Oct. 27).

* Beckwith, Dave, with Cristina Lopez. 1997. Community Organizing: People Power from the Grassroots. Washington, DC: Center for Community Change.

* Shel Trapp. 1986. Basics Of Organizing. Chicago: National Training and Information Center.

* Bobo, Kim, Jackie Kendall, and Steve Max. 2001. Organizing for Social Change, 3rd ed. Santa Ana, CA: Seven Locks Press. Chapter 8 (all 10 sections).

The Access Project "Handles for organizing a healthy community."

Rathke, Wade. 2001. "Tactical tension," Social Policy, 31 (Fall): 10-15.

Shel Trapp. 1976. Dynamics Of Organizing. Chicago: National Training and Information Center.

Bobo, Kim, et al.. 2001. Organizing for Social Change, 3rd ed. Santa Ana, CA: Seven Locks Press. Ch. 5, 7.

Mott, Andrew. 2003. Evaluation: The good news for funders. Washington, DC: Neighborhood Funders Group.

Epstein, Robin. 1996. "Ballot brigade," City Limits Magazine (Dec.).

Dionne, E. J., Jr. 2000. "After-school special," Washington Post (May 26).

Miller, Mike. 1997. "Tenderloin Senior Organizing Project," Shelterforce (May/June).

Chambers, Ed. 2003. Roots for Radicals. New York: Continuum. Ch. 5.

Class visit by Gordon Whitman, Director of Public Policy and Communications, PICO

* Jacobsen. Doing Justice. Chapter 8.

* Kretzmann, John P. 1995. "Building communities from the inside out," Shelterforce (Sept./Oct.)

* Ganz, Marshall. 2000. "Strategy, analytics, meetings." Cambridge, MA: Kennedy School of Government.

* McKnight, John. 1995. "Politicizing health care." In John McKnight, The Careless Society. New York: Basic Books.

* Mintzberg, Henry, and Frances Westley. 2001. "Decision making: It's not what you think," MIT Sloan Management Review, 42 (3): 89-93.

Whitman, Gordon. 2003. High School Issue Papers: For Youth and Adult Groups Organizing to Transform High School Education in the United States. Philadelphia: Temple University Center for Public Policy.

Bobo, Kim, Jackie Kendall, and Steve Max. 2001. Organizing for Social Change, 3rd ed. Santa Ana, CA: Seven Locks Press. Ch. 3, 4, 20.

Ganz, Marshall. 2000. "Resource and resourcefulness: Strategic capacity in the unionization of California agriculture, 1959-1966," American Journal of Sociology, 105 (4): 1003-1062.

Mintzberg, Henry. 1987. "Crafting strategy," Harvard Business Review 65 (4): 66-76.

Morris, Aldon D. 1993. "Birmingham confrontation reconsidered: an analysis of the dynamics and tactics of mobilization," American Sociological Review, 58: 621-36.

Morris, Aldon. 1981. "Black southern sit-in movement: An analysis of internal organization," American Sociological Review, 46 (6): 744-767.

Stoecker, Randy. 2005. Research Methods for Community Change. Sage: Thousand Oaks.

* Shown in class: Mahan, Leah and Mark Lipman. 1996. "Holding Ground: The Rebirth of Dudley Street." Documentary video available at U-M Film and Video Library.

* Warren. Dry Bones Rattling. Chapters 3, 6.

* Hertz, Judy. 2002. "Organizing for change: Stories of success." Washington, DC: Neighborhood Funders Group.

Ciezadlo, Annia. 2001. "The new wage movement," City Limits (March).

Gordon, Jennifer. 1995. "We make the road by walking: Immigrant workers, the Workplace Project, and the struggle for social change," Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, 30 (Summer): 407-450.

Meyerson, Harold. 2000. "A clean sweep," The American Prospect, 11(15): 24-29.

Evans, Mike, George Goehl, and Kim Bobo, 1996. "Not another parking lot: Fight city hall -- and WIN!" Shelterforce (Jan/Feb).

Grengs, Joe. 2005. "Fighting for balanced transportation in the Motor City," Progressive Planning (Spring).

Speer, Paul W., et al. 2003. "The intentional exercise of power: Community organizing in Camden, New Jersey," Journal of Community and Applied Psychology, 13: 399-408.

Walljasper, Jay 1997. "When activists win: the renaissance of Dudley St." The Nation, March 3. See also the DSNI Website.

Warren, Mark R. 2005. "Communities and schools: A new view of urban education reform," Harvard Educational Review, 75 (2): 133-174.

Mediratta, Kavitha, and Norman Fruchter. 2001. "Mapping the field of organizing for school improvement." New York: New York University Institute for Education and Social Policy.

Shirley, Dennis. 1997. Community Organizing for Urban School Reform. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

* Warren, Mark. 1992. "Democratic theory and self-transformation," American Political Science Review, 86 (1): 8-23.

* Eliasoph, Nina. 1997. "'Close to home': The work of avoiding politics," Theory and Society, 26 (5): 605-647.

Whitman, Gordon. 2006. "Beyond advocacy: The history and vision of the PICO network." Social Policy (Winter): 50-59.

Wood, Richard L. 1997. "Social capital and political culture: God meets politics in the inner city," American Behavioral Scientist, 40 (March): 595-605.

DeFilippis, James 2001. "The myth of social capital in community development," Housing Policy Debate, 12 (4): 781-806.

Orr, Marion (ed.) 2007. Transforming the City: Community Organizing and the Challenge of Community Change. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.

Putnam, Robert D. 2000. Bowling Alone. New York: Simon & Schuster. Chapter 1.

Pateman, Carole. 1970. Participation and Democratic Theory. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press.

* Ganz, Marshall. 2002. "Making democracy work?"  Contexts (Fall): 62-63.

* McKnight, John, and John Kretzmann. 1984. "Community organizing in the 80's: Toward a post-Alinsky agenda," Social Policy 14 (1): 15-17. 

* Immergluck, Dan. 2005. "Building power, losing power: The rise and fall of a prominent community economic development coalition," Economic Development Quarterly, 19 (Aug.): 211-224.

* Boyle, Mary-Ellen, and Ira Silver. 2005. "Poverty, partnerships, and privilege: Elite institutions and community empowerment," City and Community, 4 (3): 233-253.

Kleidman, Robert. 2004. "Community organizing and regionalism," City and Community, 3 (4): 403-421.

Calpotura, Francis, and Kim Fellner. 1997. "The square pegs find their groove: Reshaping the organizing circle."

Sullivan, Lisa Y. 1996. "The demise of black civil society: Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored meets the hip-hop generation," Social Policy, 27 (2): 6-11.

Lancourt, Joan E. 1979. Confront or Concede: The Alinsky Citizen Action Organizations. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.

Piven, Frances Fox, and Richard Cloward. 1977. Poor People's Movements: How They Succeed, Why They Fail. New York: Random House.

* Jacobsen. Doing Justice. Chapters 10-12.

* Rubin, Herbert J. 1995. "Renewing hope in the inner city: Conversations with community-based development practitioners," Administration and Society, 27 (May): 127-160.

O'Donnell, Sandy, Jane Beckett, and Jean Rudd. 2005. "Promising practices in revenue generation for community organizing." Washington, DC: Center for Community Change.

Bobo, Kim, Jackie Kendall, and Steve Max. 2001. Organizing for Social Change, 3rd ed. Santa Ana, CA: Seven Locks Press. Ch. 16, 21-25.

Chambers, Ed. 2003. Roots for Radicals. New York: Continuum. Ch. 6.

Gecan, Michael. 2002. Going Public. Boston: Beacon Press.

Apr 16. Student Presentations (Extra class, in lieu of final examination)