Consensus Organizing: A Community Development Workbook. A Comprehensive Guide to Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating Community Change Initiatives
Chapter 1: Approaches to Community Organizing and Their Relationship to Consensus Organizing
ISBN: 9781412939836 Authors: Mary L. Ohmer, Karen DeMasi
Copyright © Sage Publications (2009) To define and analyze the consensus organizing approach to community organizing and compare it with
Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think it is important for community organizers to understand the big picture? How and why do you think overall trends and issues (for example, changes in the economy or federal policies) might affect your work locally as an organizer?
2. Describe one example of a current economic, political, and/or social trend, issue, and/or policy and how you believe it influences low-income communities.
3. Why do you think it's important to use multiple sources to gather information on current conditions? Using Table 2.1, describe several specific data sources you might use to gather information on current trends and issues. How would you go about getting this information? How helpful do you think it would be in understanding low-income communities?
4. Using Table 2.2, select one question in each category (e.g., economic, political, and social conditions) and describe how you might find the answer to the question, why you think it is important to understanding low-income communities, and how it might impact community organizing activities at the local level.
Case Study Exercises
Instructions: The following case studies describe three specific issues impacting low-income communities today. Read each case study carefully. Identify the economic, political, and/or social trends, issues, and/or policies presented in the case study and answer the questions that follow. Break into small groups to complete these exercises, and then have a large group discussion to share your answers.
Case Study A: Increasing Inequality and Its Impact on Low-Income Communities
Questions on the Case Study on Inequality
1. Why do you think income inequality is increasing in the United States? How has income inequality (and its causes) impacted your community? Do you know anyone who has been affected by income inequality? Explain.
2. Why do you think it is important for community organizers to understand the growing issue of income inequality?
3. Assume you are a community organizer working in a low-income community that has experienced the challenges presented by the globalization of the economy and income inequality. Following a national trend, a large auto manufacturer has moved high-paying manufacturing jobs to plants in developing countries. Residents who previously worked for these companies were given resources for retraining. There are jobs in the retail trade industry; however, the pay is low and wages have not risen over the years. In addition, the economic development agency is developing a plan to find new uses for the former auto plant. What else would you want to know about the impact of these changes and what is being done to address them? Who would you talk to? What would you ask them?
4. How would you help residents in the low-income community deal with the changes described above? What community organizing approach or approaches would be appropriate? Why? (Note: See Chapter 1 for a description of community organizing approaches.)
Case Study B: Federal Housing Policies Impacting Low-Income Communities
In 1990, the U.S. Congress passed a new federal housing policy called the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act (Karger & Stoesz, 2005). The overall goals of the new law were to
Questions About the Housing Case Study
1. Assume you are a community organizer who has been assigned to a community that is about to develop and implement a HOPE IV project. Your job is to work with existing public housing residents to engage them in the HOPE IV process, including developing a plan to demolish existing units and rebuild mixed-income housing in their place. Thinking about your role, what do you believe are the most important economic, political, and/or social issues impacting the community and your work with residents? What do you know? What else do you need to learn? How would you go about gathering more information?
2. Based on your analysis, which community organizing approach or approaches would you use? Why?
3. Describe the sources of external power important to this issue, and how you would view and approach them.
4. Describe the ultimate outcomes of your organizing work, based on the approach you selected.
Case Study C: Revitalization Without Gentrification: One Community's Story-Wright-Dunbar Village, Dayton, Ohio
Questions About the Case Study on Gentrification
1. Explain how the issue of gentrification affected the residents of the Wright-Dunbar neighborhood. Why were they facing this issue? Why was it important to them?
2. In this case study, one could argue that the city's plans to help Wright-Dunbar residents remain in their homes came about only because of political pressure by various advocacy groups. What other motivation could the city have had? Why was it the right thing to do?
3. This project had some unusual partners. Can you describe some of them? Why do you think they were willing to engage in this effort? What do you think made these partnerships work?
4. What is the significance of the national park being located in Wright-Dunbar Village? How does that help with preservation and investment?
5. If you were a community organizer working in the Wright-Dunbar neighborhood, how would you have approached your work with residents? What would you have done?
6. What elements of the consensus organizing approach can you see in this case study? What other organizing approaches were used?
7. Are you aware of any communities affected by gentrification? How has it affected the residents living there? What is being done to address the issue? What would you do?
Attachment:- conflict.rar