Book Description

In this wide-ranging survey of community organizing efforts across the country, Boyte shows that citizens groups can achieve power through intelligent, persistent struggle. He introduces many local heroes and heroines in the movement for community activism. Among the most noteworthy are the leaders of a neighborhood group in St. Paul, Minnesota; a public-housing tenants' organization in St. Louis; a citywide Hispanic group in San Antonio; and an organization for the rights of the disabled in Berkeley. He draws inspiration from the common populist impulse he finds among them, as well as from their ability to draw out previously buried talent and energy in mobilizing people to take charge of their own destinies. ISBN 0-06-091157-3 (pbk.) : $6.95.