January 10, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
Tools for Radical Democracy: How to Organize for Power in Your Community
by Joan Minieri and Paul Getsos
“Radical democracy is ordinary people participating in active community institutions where they discuss politics and ideas as they work for a better neighborhood, city, state, nation, and beyond,” write Joan Minieri, co-founder of Community Voices Heard, and Paul Getsos, who teaches community organizing at Columbia University.
The authors offer a guide to involving and organizing others — especially the most marginalized members of society — in a social-justice movement. Throughout the book are examples of meeting agendas, campaign plans, surveys to determine the key issues that are important to local residents, lists of desired qualities in community-organizing leaders, and other resources that can serve as templates.
Divided into four parts, with a large appendix of resources, the book first focuses on laying the foundations of a social-justice movement: asking questions of community members, conducting research on local problems, and meeting with other potential organizers.
The second section offers ideas for recruiting and empowering activists, and the third explores campaign strategy.
Finally, in the fourth section of the book, Ms. Minieri and Mr. Getsos delve into “building a movement” by setting long-term goals for an organization and working with other groups.
In a chapter on fund raising in the resources section, the authors provide a quick primer on bringing in money for a cause: where to find it, who will give it, and how to ask for it.
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 989 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103; (800) 956-7739; fax (317) 572-4002; http://www.josseybass.com; 438 pages; $29.95; ISBN 978-0-7879-7909-6.
