About the Book
Power and empowerment are critical topics for social change. This handbook maps out ways that people can collectively engage with, influence, and change systems that affect their lives, particularly the systems that maintain inequality and oppression. It includes in-depth examinations of a variety of approaches to building and exercising community power in local organizations, institutions, and settings. Each chapter examines a particular approach, critically engaging with contemporary research on how and when collective action can be most effective at producing change within communities and societal systems. By examining a range of approaches in diverse contexts, this book provides new insights for scholars, practitioners, and engaged resident-leaders aiming to be more precise, strategic, and innovative in their efforts to build and sustain community power. It is the ideal resource for those working with community groups to build more just and equitable systems.
Table of Contents:
Building community power: an introduction Brian D. Christens; Part I. Organizing and Activism: 1. Youth organizing Jerusha Conner; 2. Youth activism in post-apartheid South Africa Tafadzwa Tivaringe and Ben Kirshner; 3. Domestic violence and community organizing in India Suvarna V. Menon and Nicole E. Allen; 4. Congregation-based community organizing Paul W. Speer; 5. Immigrant organizing and activism Kevin Escudero; 6. Online racial justice advocacy Melanie Brazzell; Part II. Participatory Governance: 7. Citizens' governance spaces Albert W. Dzur and Carolyn M. Hendriks; 8. Participatory budgeting Loren Peabody; 9. Participatory urban planning Daniel G. Cooper; 10. Youth policy advocacy in municipal governance Astraea Augsberger and Mary Elizabeth Collins; Part III. Civil Society and Coalitions: 11. Community leadership development Wilson Majee, Sarah Hultine Massengale, Claire Rippel and Johanna Reed Adams; 12. Community coalitions and empowerment Michelle Kegler and Lauren M. Bigger; 13. Youth infused community coalitions Jessica J. Collura, Holly Raffle, Meagan R. Joseph and Mollie F. Stevens; 14. Neighborhood associations and community change Kayla M. Anderson and Brian D. Christens; 15. State-led community (dis)empowerment in China Ming Hu, Xiaoyun Wang and Yulong Lian; Part IV. Enterprise: 16. A new generation of worker cooperatives Joan Meyers, Sanjay Pinto, Laura Hanson Schlachter and Olga Prushinskaya; 17. Employment social enterprises Kymberly L. Byrd and Rasheda Weaver; Part V. Participatory and Community Arts: 18. Participatory arts for vulnerable populations Emily A. Hennessy, Anise Gold-Watts, Agata Z. Pietrzak, Sam Lapoint and Ana Bess Moyer Bell; 19. Community arts, decoloniality, and epistemic justice Christopher C. Sonn, Rama P. Agung-Igusti, Roshani Janya Jayawardana, Amy F. Quayle and Samuel P. Keast; Part VI. Education and Engaged Research: 20. Action civics Kathryn Y. Morgan and Parissa Jahromi Ballard; 21. Gender-sexuality alliances V. Paul Poteat, Robert Marx, Michael O'Brien and Megan K. Yang; 22. Youth participatory action research in school settings Kimalee Dickerson, Mariah Kornbluh and Adrienne M. Duke; 23. Community-based education Moisés G. Contreras, Virginia Downing, Carl D. Greer and Bianca J. Baldridge; 24. Community-engaged research Krista A. Haapanen, Nina Wallerstein and Shannon T. Sanchez-Youngman; Concluding thoughts on building community power Brian D. Christens.
About the Author :
Brian D. Christens is Professor of Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University, USA, where he directs the PhD program in Community Research and Action. His research is focused on how different organizational approaches to collective action - and different interorganizational network dynamics - can lead to changes in systems that benefit communities. His research also seeks to understand sociopolitical development processes among participants in these types of change efforts. He is the author of Community Power and Empowerment (Oxford University Press, 2019).
Review :
'While a lot of lip service is paid to the idea of community empowerment, this collection brings concrete, granular, and instructive examples, grounded in a common framework. It encompasses a wonderfully diverse collection of cases and contributors, spanning a range of pathways for action.' John Gaventa, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex
'This handbook provides a trenchant set of perspectives and clarifying examples about community empowerment, making it a vital read for anyone trying to understand how empowerment actually works.' Hahrie Han, SNF Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University
'This comprehensive handbook is a definitive reference for scholars, practitioners, and students who aim to understand the theory of, and contribute to, power building in diverse types of communities and settings.' Kei Kawashima-Ginsburg, Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University
'Christens' pitch perfect and refreshingly accessible volume explores community power building and engagement both deeply and broadly. Clear theoretical understandings of the pathways from community power to health, and a wealth of 'real world' case studies in a wide range of settings, make the book a standout for researchers and practitioners - one deeply needed in today's troubling times.' Meredith Minkler, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
'A tremendous scholarly achievement. Christens brings together an outstanding collection of papers to present cutting-edge research, demonstrating the ways in which individuals and groups can gain greater control over issues that concern them to improve public health and wellbeing. We all know that issues, such as inequalities in health, income, education, and opportunities for civic participation, are having devastating effects on people's lives - but what, concretely, can be done? This book provides specific strategies and tactics that people can use to address the root causes of social and health problems in their communities.' N. Andrew Peterson, Rutgers Center for Prevention Science, Rutgers University
'This is a tour de force for community development and scholars interested in networks for social impact. The volume builds on the insights of Christens' ecological model of community power and empowerment. The chapters demonstrate the model's breadth of application from organizing and community action to enterprise models of empowerment.' Michelle Shumate, School of Communication, Northwestern University
