The Ten-Cent, Peanut Gallery Rap on Community Organizing Cam Paigns
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UNDERSTANDING AND WAGING CAMPAIGNS Campaigns come in all shapes and sizes and degrees By Wade Rathke _. of difficulty The ten-cent, peanut gallery rap on community organizing cam Campaigns are moving trucks loaded with tons of issues paigns has often been that campaigns are almost apolitical, speed bumps, zebra crossings, and stoplights. Certainly, among the old a a a a a a a a C mp igns re how org niz tions, le ders, nd org nizers drive school "civics" and block clubs such issues were sometimes bread a a a a issues from the priv cy of person l dilemm s, kitchen convers and-butter, but a quick look at the table of contents of Ca111paig11s puts a a a a tions, nd b ckroom l ments onto the streets nd from there to the lie to these superficial claims. Campaigns range from very local a a a a a the public sp ces where we c n eng ge ch nge. These trucks re issues like parks, stadiums, developments, and highways to power a a a lways rolling, because there is never n end to the issues felt nd plant construction, federal and local taxes, and more. The other hard a a a a a f ced by the powerless th t dem nd expression nd eng gement by knock against organizing campaigns has usually been that, requir a a Campaigns: Lessons their org niz tions. ing communit y consensus and democratic approval, they were too from the Field, a a a The list of issues is s bro d s those covered in middle-of-the-road and not edgy enough because organizers and a except endless. Jobs, housing, income, he lth, security, leaders were unwilling to risk dividing their base. The evidence in a a a a a development, nd other issues th t lign with these ess ys re there, Ca111paig11s doesn't support that critique when you examine case stud a a a a a a but so is educ tion, police, r ce, dis sters, nd, s I h ve often pointed ies about justice for felons in employment, welfare claimants over a a a a a a out, g rb ge pickup, sewer ge nd dr in ge, and loose dogs. benefits, the rights of immigrants and the LGBTQ community, and Not all issues become campaigns, but all campaigns are about safety and protection for women and rape victims. issues Admittedly, modern community organizations are not your grandfather's notion of local group service projects. They have gone a a a a e n ch c i e eci c e h c n ie e S ul Alinsky, the secular s int of community org nizing, f mously from b i g ara ter z d by sp fi g ograp i al bou dar s to b a n e e t h n t c t te e e n ti referred to the process by which issues evolve in their own surviv l of i g w ld d oget er i to mul i-lo al, mul i-sta , v n multi- a onal a a a a a unitary or federated organization like ACORN to being networked the fittest to ctu l c mp igns is th t issues needed to be "specific, a a a a a a together to give many community organizations in states or regions immedi te, nd re liz ble." Yes, S.I.R, but it's more th n th t. a a a a a a a a a like PICO, Gamaliel, or even the IAF, the capacity to act in an ex For n org niz tion to t ke up c mp ign, n issue h s to be a a a a a a tra-local manner on deeply grassroots issues. This is evidenced in more th n problem, good ide , or policy prescription. It t kes a a a the Blockhead case study on ACORN's campaign against H&R Block people willing to move it, to vote with their feet, s org nizers s y. a a and other tax preparers' predatory refund anticipation loan (RAL) Everything else being equ l, no m tter how good the issue might a a a a a a product in the United States or ACORN's fifteen-year slugfest against seem for c mp ign or how winn ble for the org niz tion, if the a a a a a payday lenders in Canada. org niz tion c n't tr nsl te the issue sufficiently for people to feel it a a a a Community organizations are also no longer an urban phenome deeply nd be willing to fight for it, it's not going to emerge s re l a a a a non in the barrios and ghettos of America. The campaigns of Virginia c mp ign. Furthermore, s these ess ys show, without these deep a a a Organizing in small towns establish that there is no size bar or lack of commitments being felt by people for the issues nd c mp igns, the a a a a a fertile ground. Th e ACORN campaig n against the White Bluff Power effort will not be sust in ble for the ye rs it c n t ke to win. The a a a a a Plant and its organization of farmers on both sides of the Arkansas ex mples re numerous from l ndlord licensing to l nd gr bbing to Campaigns a a a a River to unite with other ACORN members in Pine Bluff and Little predatory lending reforms nd on nd on and on s the uthors in a a a Rock who came to the issue from a consumer perspective rather than rticul te. An issue-b sed campaign is not just something a a a a a a a a where you dd w ter nd stir. For org niz tions, c mp igns re com a a a mitments, w ged until victory, no m tter the time nd trouble. CAMPAIGNS: LESSONS FROM THE FIELD I 15 J.4 I CAMPAIGNS: LESSONS FROM THE FIELD an environmental one makes a similar point, as do many of the case registration campaigns. He was OK with the former, and distinctly studies in Nor are community orga opposed the later. In th e sa me documentary, Professor Francis Fox nizations some version of American social change exceptionalism as Piven, the renowned political scientist and theorist, in speaking of Cnmpaigns: Lessons from the Field. the case studies from Canada, France, Italy, and Africa demonstrate. ACORN campaigns and organizing points out th at ACORN's Increasingly the rep ertoire of community organizations has "was a conflict model," rath er than th e cl assic social work modus changed dramatically as they have evolved past narrower geograph and social service notion of community organization. Breitbart's opernndi ical boundaries to become formations for popular action for diverse nostalgia was cl early misplaced. constituencies. In some cases, th e structural boundaries of high In the same way that there is no one type of organizing cam ways, hillsides, and waterways have still defined the catchment area paign, as the essays in detail, there is also no one set of allowing people to congregate, debate, decide, and act. In other ways tactics that produce successful outcomes for members and adherents. Campaigns organizations have become defined increasingly by their campaigns In some cases, conflict on multi-fronts does lead to success. In other rather than any notion of geography. In many ways, community or cases, eventual victories were the result of elaborate sequencing and ganizations have b ecome the action arm of mutual interest networks. engineering of ballot initiatives integrated with actions and other They are the human face and feet of human social networks, as tactics as we see in the Proposition H campaign in San Francisco and opposed to those on the Internet. This evolution has allowed modern th e various living wage initiatives in Massachusetts.and almost in community organizations to continue adaptation and evolve as a th e case of th e Q Arena in Cleveland. In such situations, campaigns strike force for social change at so many more levels. were advanced by integrati ng political capacity with organizational In fact, in the way that campaigns define community organi discipline, meetings, and actions. zations, organizers and leaders have sometimes found themselves Community organizations have gained remarkable dexterity as struggling to maintain their multi-issued dimensions as their cam th ey have evolved. Still largely known for their "outside" game, they paign muscle becomes more identifiable to the public and the press. have also mastered th e "inside" game, when needed and appropri ACORN in the United States went through many of these iterations ate. The Ch arlottesville experi ence of Virginia Organizing was a where it was seen at different times as a welfare rights organization, master class in patience, leadership development, and behind the a consumer organization, a tenant organization, a political organi scenes organizing that understood that th e potential for attack and zation, a workers' rights group when engaged in living wage cam division in conservative communities over LGBTQ rights argued for paigns, and sometimes people saw all of these faces simultaneously. softer tactics like personal lobbying by the memb ers that would pave In the same way Citizens in the United Kingdom is seen as a Living the way for public action almost after victory was already assured.