How People Get Power
Organizing Oppressed Communities for Action
Kahn, Si
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Paperbacks, New York, USA
Year Published: 1970
Pages: 128pp ISBN: 0-07-033198-7
Resource Type: Book
Cx Number: CX6325
A book about community organizing, written for organizers.
Abstract:
This is a book about community organizing, written for organizers. The author is a community organizer active in Appalachia and the Deep South, and most of the material in the book is from his personal experiences of working in the rural South. This book is a step-by-step handbook of effective organizational techniques, starting from the moment an organizer analyzes and enters a community to the time he leaves it after enabling its people to be in a position where they can handle their new power on their own.
The book is, accordingly, divided into chapters like "Entering the Community," "Bringing People Together," "Developing Leadership," "Building Political Power," and "Leaving the Community." There is emphasis laid on the fact that poor people's organizations are very different from other, more traditional organizations and therefore, need to be approached differently. The guidelines given by the author are supplemented by everyday examples as well as examples from history. There is also a list of suggested reading at the end.
[Abstract by Nabeeha Chaudhary]
Table of Contents
Preface
1 Entering the Community
2 Sizing Up the Community
3 Making Contacts
4 Bringing People Together
5 Developing Leadership
6 Working with Organizations
7 Setting Priorities
8 Power Tactics
9 Building Political Power
10 Self-help Strategies
11 Leaving the Community
Epilogue: the Goals of Organizing
Suggested Reading
Subject Headings
