Grasp Blessed Are The Organized: Grassroots Democracy In America Scripted By Jeffrey L. Stout Depicted In Electronic Format
book is mostly interesting and useful because it articulates both the how and the why of faithbased and some secular broadbased, relational organizing.
Stout really fronts the details of particular people and their stories and fights, which makes this an engaging read, and then there's more theorizing about democracy in the second half, which I wasn't expecting.
A good inside scoop of what IAF organizing is all about, need to pick it up again, . .
Good review on grassroots movement with limited scope and perspective on catastrophic events and working to aide communities to recover from them.
The book has a political bias which can be helpful from both perspectives, just started this book but am already hooked, course it helps to iknow some of the protaganists personally, including yours truly, interested in stories of grassroots democracy as forged by some of the best organizers in the country then this book is for you, prof. Stout has a captivating writing style that makes it difficult to put the book down, In Achieving Our Country, Richard Rorty contrasts two different books, Thomas Geoghegan's Which Side Are You On and Fredric Jameson's Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism.
He writes,
The latter is an equally brilliant book, but it operates on a level of abstraction too high to encourage any particular political initiative.Thankfully, Stout's Blessed Are the Organized is much like Geoghegan's book and nothing like Jameson's, If readers want to know how to translate democratic principles into action, then they will be hardpressed to find a better guide, Stout writes clearly about the roles, norms, practices, and institutions that are needed in order for citizens to exercise power effectively and responsibly, He provides some illuminating examples, describing peoples' collective efforts in New Orleans, the Rio Grande Valley, and South Central LA to make changes in their communities.
After reading Geoghegan, you have views on some of the things that need to be done, After reading Jameson, you have views on practically everything except what needs to be done, p.
Stout blends theory and descriptions of practice in a superb way, When one finishes this book, she is likely to have a clear conception of what democratic citizenship involves, including what kind of relationships, habits, and skills are needed to work towards "a genuinely inclusive republic that is free from domination" xix.
Stout never suggests that it will be easy to achieve this end, He is quite clear that, in this world, those who try to build and exert democratic power will have trouble, But, pointing to others' examples, he encourages those who try to take heart, knowing that others have overcome in their worlds, “Democratic political power derives from being organized, ” Every seminary student, college radical, knowitall “activist”, wellmeaning dogooder and nonprofiteer should read this book, and soon, Stout champions Saul Alinksystyle organizing as a crucial missing piece of the democratic puzzle, He travels with IAF organizers, clergy and laypeople through the successes and challenges of grassroots organizingfrom Katrina refugees in Houston to the shantytowns north of the Mexican border.
Along the way, he carefully and precisely gives historical examples to underwrite his analysis of true democratic practices, Stout shows how power is built one meeting at a time how elites can be held accountable by citizens how Churches must be the anchor for nodes of associations and how and why citizens win.
If youre not as interested in political theory and what this all means for religion in America, Michael Gecans excellent Going Public is the first
book to read on Alinskystyle organizing.
How ordinary citizens band together to bring about real change
In an America where the rich and fortunate have free rein to do as they please, can the ideal of liberty and justice for all be anything but an empty slogan Many Americans are doubtful, and have withdrawn into apathy and cynicism.
But thousands of others are not ready to give up on democracy just yet, Working outside the notice of the national media, ordinary citizens across the nation are meeting in living rooms, church basements, synagogues, and schools to identify shared concerns, select and cultivate leaders, and take action.
Their goal is to hold big government and big business accountable, In this important new book, Jeffrey Stout bears witness to the successes and failures of progressive grassroots organizing, and the daunting forces now arrayed against it.
Stout tells vivid stories of people fighting entrenched economic and political interests around the country, From parents and teachers striving to overcome gang violence in South Central Los Angeles, to a Latino priest north of the Rio Grande who brings his parish into a citizens' organization, to the New Orleans residents who get out the vote by taking a jazz band through streets devastated by Hurricane Katrina, Stout describes how these ordinary people conceive of citizenship, how they acquire and exercise power, and how religious ideas and institutions contribute to their successes.
The most important book on organizing and grassroots democracy in a generation, Blessed Are the Organized is a passionate and hopeful account of how our endangered democratic principles can be put into action.
.