1 Community Organizing for Social Change

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING FOR SOCIAL CHANGE PAX 547

Summer Peacebuilding Institute/SPI 2019

Session III: June 3-7 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

INSTRUCTOR’S INFORMATION:

Mark G. Chupp, PhD, MSW Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences Case Western Reserve University 10900 Euclid Ave Cleveland, OH 44106 Tel: 216-368-5157 [email protected] Skype: mark.chupp1

Additional resource persons from Faith in Action, Harrisonburg, VA http://www.harrisonburgfaithinaction.org/about-faith-in-action/

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course focuses on how to design and facilitate the social change process at a community level. We will learn from strategies participants have already been using and learn new strategies in community building and organizing. The course explores traditional Alinsky organizing and transformative approaches to organizing that include those based on social movements and the work of Paulo Freire. We will learn advances in social networking and community building that influence how communities organize today. Participants will learn social change processes on two continua— strengths versus needs and collaborative versus confrontational approaches. Across approaches, students learn to design and implement each phase of the social change process with a core group of the affected community, from framing an issue through assessment and power analysis to mobilizing and empowering community actors to affect short and long-term change.

Through real world experience and case studies from the US and other countries, participants will develop skills in issue identification, civic engagement, empowerment, and inclusion. Participants will examine various new approaches to engagement, from social networking to community building. Recognizing that everyday people and historically oppressed groups are often excluded or ignored in current political processes, this course will explore strategies for transforming systems and the mental models that maintain them.

COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:

Through course readings, lectures and case studies, individual and group exercises, participants will:

1. Explore a comprehensive social change process that includes strength-based and needs- based approaches and applies collaborative and confrontational processes.

2. Understand the role of the change agent and discover one’s own strengths and personal motivation for change. 3. Learn methods to facilitate assessing community assets and power dynamics that can be used for mobilizing the community around an identified issue. 4. Integrate engagement methods to fully engage community members, marginalized groups, and community-based organizations in ways that draw out their strengths and give them a voice in the decisions that affect their lives. 5. Learn to design a social change process that draws on best practice community change models and fits the issue and community.

REQUIRED TEXTS AND OTHER RESOURCES: (For those taking the course for graduate credit)

Bobo, K, Kendall, J. & Max, S. (2010). Organizing for Social Change : A Manual for Activists, 4th Edition. Santa Ana, CA: Forum Press. ISBN-10: 0984275215, ISBN-13: 978-0984275212

Pyles, L. (2014). Progressive community organizing: Reflective practice in a globalizing world, 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge. ISBN-10: 9780415538084, ISBN-13: 978-0415538084

Recommended Texts (Additional bibliographies will be presented in class and on moodle)

Green, M. Moore, H. & O'Brien, J. (2007). ABCD: When People Care Enough to Act. Toronto, Canada: Inclusion Press. ISBN-10: 1895418747, ISBN-13: 978-1895418743

Ohmer, M. & DeMasi, K. (2009). Consensus organizing: A community development workbook: a comprehensive guide to designing, implementing, and evaluating community change initiatives. Los Angeles, CA: Sage. ISBN-10: 1412939836, ISBN-13: 978-1412939836

Rubin, H. J. & Rubin, I. S. (2008). Community Organizing and Development, 4th Edition. Boston: Pearson Education. ISBN-10: 0205408133, ISBN-13: 978-0205408139

REQUIRED ASSIGNMENTS:

Two Graduate Credits: Pre-Class Assignment 15% Oral review of required readings 20% Class participation 20% Final Paper: Intervention Design 45% Total 100%

Students taking the course for 2 credits are required to read all assigned readings (text books and moodle readings) for a total of 1,000 pages. There will be time during the course to discuss these readings, which will account for 20% of the student’s grade.

Participants taking the course as a training (no academic credit) are expected to complete the pre-class assignment, read all readings on the course site (moodle), and participate in all class activities.

1. Pre-Class Assignment: (to be completed and submitted by May 15)

Write 3-4 pages, reflecting on the readings on moodle, Topic 1: Social Change.

Schutt, R. (2001). Chapter 4: Elements of an Effective Strategy for Democratic Transformation, in Inciting Democracy: A Practical Proposal for Creating a Good Society. Spring Forward Press, pp. 59-74.

Lederach, J. P. (1998). An Integrated Framework for Peacebuilding, in Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies. Washington, DC: US Institute of Peace, pp. 73-86.

Minkler, M. & Wallerstein, N. (1997). Improving Health through Community Organization and Community Building: A Health Education Perspective, in Minkler, M. (Ed.) Community Organizing and Community Building for Health. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University, pp. 30-52.

Drawing on your favorite theories and concepts from previous knowledge or readings in other courses), describe your own view of social change and the questions you would like to have addressed in this course. Specifically, please address the following:  Who are you and what motivates you to take this course? This could include significant personal and professional events, a burning issue you are working on, or a question you are pursuing?  How do you define social change?  What context or community do you hope to apply social change methods (community organizing and building practices) in your life?  What are your thoughts on using confrontation versus collaborative methods in achieving social change? Are you drawn to one more than the other?

This 3-4 page paper should be typed, double-spaced and proofread. Include concepts from the readings with citations. This assignment should be emailed to the instructor at [email protected] by May 15.

2. Class Participation (20%): active participation in lectures, exercises and class discussions. In addition, all participants in the course will engage in several experiential learning exercises during the class.

3. Course Readings (20%): assigned readings from the list of required texts and course readings. Students taking the course for 2 credits will provide an overview of the required readings and additional readings of their choice. For each article or book, be prepared to discuss the following elements:  A short summary of the reading, including an overview of the major elements or themes. If you are summarizing a book, include a longer summary that includes the chapters you read.  Your own reaction to the reading, including what resonated with you and what questions that arose for you.  How the content applies to your community or work and how you might apply what you learned.

Final Paper: Proposal for a Social Change Intervention (45%)

Final Paper: Intervention Design

In 13 to 15 pages of double-spaced text (does not include cover page and references), please address the following:

Select a social problem or goal identified by a community and design a process that would organize and build community while addressing the issue. Develop a process design for an actual community that you know. This could be your home community or another community in which you have or had direct involvement. If it is not a geographic community, be sure to describe what makes it a community and how it is held together.

Identify a social problem or goal and design a community intervention, based one of the models covered in this course or a hybrid of two approaches. If you select an alternative model, be sure that it is a community intervention/change process that builds capacity of the community while addressing a social issue.

Part 1: Frame and Analyze the Issue  Briefly describe the history, demographics and dynamics of the community as it relates to your topic.  Identify the issue you wish to address, how it emerged in the community and how it is currently framed. Reframe the issue into a specific, realizable goal that would potentially engage key stakeholder groups in your change process.  Provide a power or stakeholder analysis of primary stakeholders and the change agent, referring to a specific stakeholder/power analysis tool from the course or an alternative reference. This is often depicted in a chart or diagram. Using one of these stakeholder power analysis tools, construct a diagram or table with a narrative description of your analysis: http://www.policy-powertools.org/Tools/Understanding/SPA.html http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTSOCIALDEV/0,,contentMDK:21233 812~isCURL:Y~menuPK:3291499~pagePK:64168445~piPK:64168309~theSitePK:3177395,00. html See pp. 126-130 in this excellent World Bank publication: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTTOPPSISOU/Resources/1424002- 1185304794278/TIPs_Sourcebook_English.pdf#page=146

Part 2: Identify the model and strategy  Provide a rationale (or theoretical basis) for why this process is appropriate for the issue and community. Describe whether this is a confrontational or collaborative approach.  Include what approach you would recommend, whether it is strengths-based or needs-based and whether it is confrontational or collaborative.  Identify your change model and the rationale for your choice. If you select an alternative model, be sure that it is a community intervention/change process that builds capacity of the community while addressing a social issue. In other words, this is a community change intervention, not a program design for developing a service for clients.  Identify who you propose to be the primary organizer or change agent. If this is not you, identify a real person in the community or an outsider and how they would enter and establish trust to lead the intervention. Include how the organizer would be connected to a stakeholder group or a steering committee so that they are not acting alone. © 2019 Mark Chupp 4 PAX 547 SPI 2019 Session III

Part 3: Intervention Strategy and Design  Describe your intervention, applying the steps or process that correspond to your model.  Be sure to include how the organizer or change agent "enters" or engages the community.  Include the sequence and components of your process with a clear rationale for the design choices you have made (flow charts or figures are encouraged).  Identify the level of change or types of short-term and long-term differences for people and places you think your process will achieve  Identify what you think would be the biggest challenges in implementing your process and what can be done to confront those challenges

Be sure to incorporate key perspectives from at least 5 published references (course readings or additional references on the model chosen) to help frame and support your analysis and recommendations. Include citations in the text and a list of all references at the end of the paper.

The paper should be typed, double-spaced, 12-point font and proofread. Leave yourself extra time to proofread your work. There should be a cover page, but do not count the cover page or references towards your page limit. This assignment should be emailed to the instructor at [email protected] no later than August 20th for fall full-time students and October 1st for all other students.

DAILY CLASS SCHEDULE:

Class will meet daily, Monday through Friday, The class will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on most days, with a 1.5 hour break for lunch. A complete schedule will be distributed on the first day of class.

The course will draw upon a local community organizing effort, Faith in Action, which will serve as an on-the-ground learning. Organizers will participate in class sessions to share their current work on local criminal justice reform.

The following content will be covered during the in-class sessions.

Topic 1: Community Organizing and Community Building Overview Topic 2: The Community Organizing Process  History and Diverse Roots of Organizing  Case Study—Dudley Street Neighborhood Imitative  Broad-Based Organizing Topic 3: The Change Agent  Story of Self and Self-Interest  Role of the Organizer and Community Builder Topic 4: Assess and Engage  Assessing Power and Systems  Entering community  Listening project Topic 5: Leadership and Building Power for Change Topic 6: Collaborative Approaches to Organizing and Building Community  Asset Based Community Development (ABCD)  Consensus Organizing  Community Network Organizing

SPI ATTENDANCE POLICY:

It is expected that individuals registering for an SPI session will attend the entire course (barring unforeseen travel delays or emergencies). Please contact SPI directly at [email protected] before registering if you know you will have to miss any days of a course. SPI certificates are provided to participants only if they miss no more than one class day unless prior arrangements have been made with SPI Director. For-credit participants are expected to attend all class sessions unless they are given permission from the instructor to miss a session. SPI courses rely on active student participation in a learning community. If a participant misses class repeatedly and this disrupts the learning for others, he/she will be asked to leave the course and no money will be refunded for remaining course time.

GRADING CRITERIA AND OTHER POLICIES:

In SPI the instructor will provide to all students taking the course for graduate credit some supplemental information that will serve as a resource after SPI when students are working on course assignments. This will include information on library resources, EMU’s academic integrity policy, guidelines for writing graduate papers, information regarding the grading scale and course deadlines, and then some suggestions we have for you in order to make your experience of taking SPI courses for graduate credit as successful as possible! These documents are available online at https://emu.edu/cjp/spi/participants/graduate-credit.

The following reading list is to supplement the primary readings for the course (listed on page 1).

Community Organizing Reading List Books

Block, P. (2009). Community: The Structure of Belonging. San Francisco: Berrett‐Koehler.

Born, P. (2014). Deepening community: Finding joy together in chaotic times. Berrett‐Koehler Publishers.

Brown, M. J. (2006). Building powerful community organizations: A personal guide to creating groups that can solve problems and change the world (p. 200). Arlington, MA: Long Haul Press.

Green, M., Moore, H. & O’Brien, J. (2006). When people care enough to act: ABCD in action. Toronto, ONT: Inclusion Press.

Sen, R. (Ed) (2003). Stir it up: Lessons in community organizing and advocacy (48‐78). San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐ Bass.

Staples, L. (2012). Selecting and cutting the issue. Minkler, M. (Ed.) Community organizing and community building for health (pp. 187‐210). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.

Articles and Online Resources:

Annie E. Casey (2008). Sustaining neighborhood change: The power of resident leadership, social networks, and community mobilization. Baltimore, MD: Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Briggs, X. S. (2003). Organizing stakeholders, building movement, setting the agenda. Cambridge, MA: The Community Problems Solving Project at MIT, 1‐28.

Center for Social Inclusion: A Project of the Tides Center (2005). Thinking change: Race, framing and the public conversation on diversity. What social science tells advocates about winning support for racial justice policies. New York: Center for Social Inclusion.

Chávez, V., Minkler, M., Wallerstein, N., & Spencer, M. S. (2010). Community organizing for health and social justice. In Cohen, L., Chavez, V. Chehimi, S. (Eds.). Prevention is primary: Strategies for community well‐ being, 87‐112.

Lawrence, K, Sutton, S. Kubisch, A., Susi, G. & Fulbright‐Anderson, K. (2004). Structural racism and community building. Washington, D.C.: Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change. Retrieved from https://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/files/content/docs/rcc/aspen_structural_racism2.pdf

Martinson, M., & Su, C. (2012). Contrasting organizing approaches: The “Alinsky tradition” and Freirian organizing approaches. Minkler, M. (Ed.) Community organizing and community building for health (pp. 59‐ 77). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.

Mathie, A. & Cunningham, G. (2003). From clients to citizens: Asset‐based community development as a strategy for community driven development. Development in Practice, 13/ 5, pp. 474‐486.

Miller, V., VeneKlasen, L., Reilly, M., & Clark, C. (2006). Making change happen: Power. Concepts for revisioning power for justice, equality and peace. Washington, DC: Just Associates.

Minkler, M. & Wallerstein, N. (2012). Improving health through community organization and community building: Perspectives from health education and social work, in Minkler, M. (Ed.) Community organizing and community building for health (pp. 37‐58). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.

Preer, Robert (2005). Making connections in Lawrence: A CDC builds more than homes and businesses. Commonwealth, pp. 43‐48.

Rubin, H. J. & Rubin, I. S. (2000). Chapter 4: Creating empowerment for collective action. In H.J. Rubin & I. S. Rubin (Eds.), Community organizing and development (3rd ed.) (pp. 77‐96). Boston: Imprint/Allyn and Bacon.

Schutz, A., & Sandy, M. (2011). Collective action for social change: An introduction to community organizing. Springer. Chapter 11: Leadership, pp. 207‐219.

Traynor, B. (2007). Building community in place: Limitations and promise. Unpulished revision to chapter In Saegert, S. & DeFillipis, J. (Eds.) The community development reader (pp. 1‐13). New York, NY: Routledge.

Traynor, W.J. & Andors, J. (2005). Network organizing: A strategy for building community engagement. Shelterforce Online. Retrieved from http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/140/LCW.html.