Briefing – Community Organising: Alinsky and Freire This note seeks to introduce the thinking and guidance of Saul Alinsky and Paulo Freire on the topic of ‘Community Organisers’ and ‘Community Organising’ before outlining its current position of prominence in the Coalition Government’s Big Society programme.
Community Organisers and Community Organising In the context of Alinsky and Freire, the Community Organiser seeks to establish a broad-based community organisation with durable power and influence that acts in the shared self-interest of that community on multiple issues. In this case, a core dimension of the Community Organisers’ work is the generation, maintenance, and effective utilisation of collective power. The pursuit of durable power is key in the differentiation of Community Organising from other community development initiatives 1. To this end, Organiser activity includes:
Facilitation of democratic, open, and accessible organisational governance Development of an organisational mission and shared vision concerned with the general health of the community rather than single issues Recruitment and development of community leaders and volunteers Facilitation of coalitions and partnerships Guidance for campaigns and strategies Development of strategies for building power
As such, a key concern is the empowerment of community members – through knowledge, understanding, resource, and organisation – with the end goal of distributing power more equally throughout the community. A model of Community Organising informed by Alinsky and Freire in the Big Society programme is a focus of critique based on the threat to established authorities presented by a potentially forceful redistribution of power2 and questions over the current extent of apathy within communities3.
Community Organising in the UK and US Derived from the initial work of Alinsky, Community Organisers are an established feature of local to national politics in the US, represented by prominent organisations including ACORN 4. An array of literature sources explore the political origin of Barack Obama as an Alinsky-influenced Community Organiser in Chicago and reflect on ‘Organiser’ principles apparent in subsequent policy, campaign strategies, speeches, and books5. Observers regard the importance of Community Organisers in the US to be a function of the limited capacity of the welfare state to serve the neediest during downturn 6. The importance does not currently translate to the UK. The current status of the Community Organiser in UK politics is emergent in the Red-Toryism worked through think-tanks such as ResPublica7. In the 1990s, the Citizen Organising Foundation 8, now UK Citizens9, sponsored a series of organisations proposed to be built on Community Organising principles. Of these, London Citizens has maintained a particularly strong voice 10. Topical events such as James Purnell’s training from London Citizens upon his exit from frontbench politics11 and David Milliband’s leadership campaign endorsement suggest permeation of Community Organising more widely in the UK political system12.
SJC – Briefing – Alinsky and Freire – Draft v1
Page 1 of 5
Saul Alinsky (1909-1972) Saul Alinsky is considered the founder of modern Community Organising movement; codifying key strategies and aims of the Community Organiser in Reveille for Radicals (1946) and Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals (1971). Early work Organising the poor for social action in 1930s Chicago neighbourhoods placed Alinsky at the forefront of the Community Organising movement which continues to influence political thinking; Obama and the Tea Party both employing techniques 13. A key pillar of the enduring legacy is the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF); founded by Alinsky in 1940 and maintained by acolytes. The IAF is a national Community Organizing network providing training, support, leadership, and representation to broad-based community organisations and organisers14. An insight into the Alinsky perspective is provided by an opening quote to Rules for Radicals: ‘What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away’ Development and maintenance of collective and durable power and is a key theme15; ‘we are concerned with how to create mass organisations to seize power and give it to the people; to realise the democratic dream of equality, justice, peace’ 16. In Rules for Radicals confrontational tactics for Community Organisers are outlined (intended to be developed for specific contexts) 17:
Rule 1: Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do. Rule 2: Never go outside the experience of your people. The result is confusion, fear, and retreat. Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the experience of an opponent. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat. Rule 4: Make opponents live up to their own book of rules. Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage. Rule 6: A good tactic is one your people enjoy. Rule 7: A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag. Commitment may become ritualistic as people turn to other issues. Rule 8: Keep the pressure on. Use different tactics and actions and use all events of the period for your purpose. Rule 9: The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself. Rule 10: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Avoid being trapped by an opponent or an interviewer who says, “Okay, what would you do?” Rule 11: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don’t try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.
The Rules appear to concentrate on the pursuit of power once the community is Organised; these rules dominate discussion and critique of an ‘Alinsky method’. However, within the text, principles for Organising are observed that appear to be the focus of current usage of Alinsky by the Coalition; an example includes18; 1. Draw on the inevitability of class and group conflict as well as the unpredictability of events for your creativity to invent tactics that fit the moment
SJC – Briefing – Alinsky and Freire – Draft v1
Page 2 of 5
2. Be guided by a broadly defined sense of self-interest, taking on multiple issues, and encourage all other participants to do the same 3. Try to see every situation in as stark a light as possible, unblurred by ideological imperatives, traditional hatreds, or conventional moralities 4. Communicate with others on their own ground, amassing personal experience and solid relationships among the people with whom you intend to work 5. Respect people’s dignity by creating the conditions for them to be active participants in solving their own problems rather than victims or mere recipients of aid 6. Shape educational experiences that matter in people’s lives by helping individuals identify issues they can grasp and do something about 7. Build the leadership capacity of the group being organized and take as the goal the independent functioning of that community The proposal that the Organiser ‘works inside the system’ illustrates a fundamental aspect of Alinsky’s approach (Rules for Radicals). A further insight into Alinsky-influenced methods is presented within the IAF mission19: ‘IAF leaders and organizers first create independent organizations, made up of people from all races and all classes, focused on productive improvements in the public arena. IAF members then use those new political realities to invent and establish new social realities.’ Training for the Alinsky method and associated tools are available from influential Alinskyinfluenced organisations; the IAF, Citizens UK (London Citizens), and German Institute for Community Organizing (DICO). In the UK, the College of Community Organising offers a series of training and consultancy opportunities20. The College of Community Organising is a function of the UK Centre for Civil Society; a social enterprise company established by Citizens UK. In addition, Queen Mary University has initiated a Masters Degree course in Community Organising (linked to Citizens UK)21. Information in course content is restricted; however, insights into constituents of a methodology are provided22: New leadership techniques: How to connect faith and values to practical action The role that power and self-interest play in holding a group together and making the world work An introduction to a campaigning methodology that helps strengthen your organisation allowing you, your family, and your community to gain recognition and maintain dignity. As such, the Alinsky workshop appears to focus on capabilities for generation, maintenance, and effective application of collective power by coherent communities supported by embedded Organiser facilitators. The training and preparation of communities and leaders for power, together with guidelines for leverage of that power are core aspects of an Alinsky-informed approach23. A step-by-step guidebook is not clearly apparent (but may exist behind IAF and London Citizen firewalls).
Paulo Freire (1921-1997) Paulo Freire was a Brazilian educator who developed a method of learning explicitly designed to raise individuals’ awareness and understanding of their circumstances and increase their ability to bring about change. The key work is ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ in which a method of teaching with a new relationship between teacher, student, and society is proposed to address the imbalance of
SJC – Briefing – Alinsky and Freire – Draft v1
Page 3 of 5
power between the coloniser and colonised (teacher and student) 24. Fundamental to the method is ‘conscientization’; the process of developing a critical awareness of one’s social reality through reflection and action25. In other words, the individual is supported to cultivate their own growth. A leading UK proponent of the method in action, serving empowerment and Community Organising ends, is the poverty relief charity RE:generate Trust which seeks to empower individuals to ‘develop the networks, services and facilities that they themselves want and can sustain’ 26: The Trust outline a practical framework - ‘Listening Matters’ – based on Freire’s work27: One ‘Community Animator’ will aim to draw together local people prepared to help carry out and expand the listening process and will work with them to apply the method across the wider community. One animator will organise a team that delivers the programme. The work will systematically identify the positive aspects of an area's culture and community, as well as the people's concerns, frustrations and aspirations. The listening dialogue leads to people promising to take an action. A few will set up projects and enterprises that will tackle major concerns that many in the network will use. The ‘Community Holding Team’ (co-ordinated local group) will collate and analyse the results of the listening, engage local people identified through the listening process and start to develop a strategy and sustainable action plan for the community. The community’s targets and milestones will be identified and compared with those of the commissioning bodies. Leaders will emerge with projects, actions and enterprises and the area will regenerate. RE:generate Trust, their method, and its outcomes has gained endorsement from David Cameron visiting N.Tyneside in 200528.
Community Organisers and the Big Society The Big Society policy programme includes the establishment of a ‘Neighbourhood Army’ of 5,000 community organisers within the current parliament (composed of 500 full-time ‘senior’ area level coordinators and 4,500 part-time local level volunteers)29. The Office for Civil Society (OCS) within the Cabinet Office is charged with leading development of the Community Organisers programme; steering the Organiser base towards critical mass. Funding for the programme is based on funds diverted from the FutureBuilders programme together with support secured by the Organisers themselves. Based on initial indications from OCS consultation events, Community Organisers will be expected to30:
Identify gaps or failings in services provided by the state Mobilise community support to tackle these gaps or failings locally Help people to start groups and charities Enhance social capital and strengthen interactions between all parts of the community Liaise with civil society organisations, the state and the community Help to secure funding for local activities and their own work
The OCS currently seeks a National Partner to provide the training and support network necessary to realise the ambition for Community Organiser capabilities, together with provisions for post-2015 independent funding and leadership. The writings and action of Saul Alinsky and Paulo Freire are directly cited by the OCS as the foundation for the Community Organiser programme.
SJC – Briefing – Alinsky and Freire – Draft v1
Page 4 of 5
Wikipedia – ‘Community Organising’ – citing: Reitzes. 1987. ‘The Alinsky Legacy: Alive and Kicking’ and Chambers. 2003. ‘Roots for Radicals: Organizing for Power, Action, and Justice’. 2 www.urbanforum.org.uk/big-society/responding-to-the-big-society 3 www.redpepper.org.uk/The-new-politics-of-community/ 4 www.acorn.org 5 Examples – www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/24/AR2007032401152_2.html, www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/2073071/revolution-you-can-believe-in.thtml, and www.nationalreview.com/articles/227500/alinsky-administration/jim-geraghty 6 New Statesman – March 2010 – ‘David Cameron's big idea’ – www.newstatesman.com/blogs/thestaggers/2010/03/cameron-blond-big-society 7 www.respublica.org.uk 8 www.cof.org.uk 9 www.citizensuk.org 10 www.londoncitizens.org.uk 11 James Purnell to retrain as community organiser – www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/19/james-purnell-retraincommunity-organiser 12 David Milliband – Community Organising – www.davidmiliband.net/2010/07/19/can-labour-learn-from-london-citizens/ 13 www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2314 14 www.industrialareasfoundation.org 15 www.redpepper.org.uk/The-new-politics-of-community/ 16 http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/juliandobson/18303/what-place-protest-big-society 17 http://vcn.bc.ca/citizens-handbook/rules.html 18 Alinsky’s Reveille – Eli Goldblatt – www.temple.edu/english/News/Alinsky.pdf 19 www.industrialareasfoundation.org/what.html 20 www.citizensuk.org/about/college-of-community-organising/ 21 www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/admissions/masters/programmes/community/index.html 22 www.citizensuk.org/training/ 23 www.learn-usa.com/transformation_process/roa018.htm 24 www.comminit.com/en/node/27123/348 25 www.freire.org/conscientization/ 26 www.regeneratetrust.org 27 www.regeneratetrust.org/listeningmatters.html 28 www.regeneratetrust.org/Welcome_files/DavidCameronSocialMalaise.pdf 29 David Cameron speech on Big Society strategy – March 2010 – www.conservatives.com/News/Speeches/2010/03/David_Cameron_Our_Big_Society_plan.aspx 30 Urban Forum Online – Nov 2010 – Community Organisers Briefing – www.urbanforum.org.uk/briefings/communityorganisers-briefing 1
SJC – Briefing – Alinsky and Freire – Draft v1
Page 5 of 5