In the Spirit of Alinsky

Name: In the Spirit of Alinsky
Brand: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
SKU: 9780252049644
Price: 229.0 AUD
Availability: InStock

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESSISBN: 9780252049644

Community Organizing's Fight to Strengthen Democracy

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$229.00

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By Robert T. Gannett Jr.
Imprint: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
Release Date: October 13, 2026
Format: HARDBACK
Dimensions: 229 x 152 mm
Weight: 450 g
Pages: 188

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Community-based organizing stands at a crossroads at a time when anti-democratic headwinds and authoritarian impulses threaten American society as never before. Robert T. Gannett Jr. draws on a forty-year career as a grassroots activist to make an impassioned plea for citizens to create the robust infrastructure of organizing that is necessary to sustain modern-day democracy. As Gannett shows, the methods pioneered by legendary activist Saul Alinsky provide the means for channeling citizens' anger and frustration into meaningful social change. Gannett weaves his personal journey as an "outside agitator" through in-depth studies of successful and unsuccessful campaigns. Gannett places financial sustainability, political independence, and a commitment to process as much as to purpose at the core of organizing. He also focuses on the importance of veterans mentoring the next generation to meet the challenges of the future. Hard-headed but hopeful, In the Spirit of Alinsky distills decades of on-the-ground experience into a guide for effective radical action.

Robert T. Gannett Jr. is the executive director of the Institute for Community Empowerment and a longtime community organizer in Chicago.

IN THE SPIRIT OF ALINSKY: COMMUNITY ORGANIZING'S FIGHT TO STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY Robert T. Gannett Jr. CONTENTS Frontispiece Acknowledgments (to be added) Author's Preface 1 1. A New Political Form 18 Community organizing's origins and current crossroads, intellectual roots, varied structures, and lessons learned 2. Generation 1 (1939-1972): The Welding of Community Crucibles 52 Saul Alinsky's axioms of power, reading of Tocqueville, racial conundrums, success in Southeast Asia, and legacy downsides 3. Generation 2 (1972-1991): More Than an Ink-Blot 83 Post-Alinsky urban powerlessness, "do or die" moments, "50% plus 1" organizing, and city- and state-wide campaigns 4. Generation 3 (1991-2010) and Generation 4 (2010-present): 152 Expanding Spaces and Raising Stakes A Millionaire Tax in Massachusetts, a community-based mental health system in Chicago, and a plan for affordable homes in Bronzeville 5. Looking Ahead 190 Towards new understandings of community, power, partnerships, and financial resources Works Cited 222 Index (to be added)

In the Spirit of Alinsky

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