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The body of work this
book represents is clearly important both theoretically and in terms of
encouraging scholars and practitioners in continuing efforts of large-scale
change and social justice. The cases considered are fascinating, and the
authors'
analyses of them are enlightening.
Katherine Miller,
Texas A&M University
In Organizing for Social Change, one
rediscovers the value of dialectics within a theoretically complex story of
empowerment and transformation that is told in a very personal tone with careful
attention to detail.
Patrice M Buzzanell,
Purdue University
Scholars and
practitioners will find this book theoretically sound, methodologically
rigorous, and rich with poignant narratives. The book models engaged
scholarship; it is truly refreshing to encounter scholarship that matters
to various stakeholders, academic and otherwise.
Lynn M Harter,
Ohio University
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Conventionally, analysts of social
change perceive organizing initiatives in binary terms: projects are seen
as being either top-down or bottom-up; local culture is seen as being
either modern or traditional. Challenging this restrictive dualism, this
important book argues that social change emerges in a non-linear,
circuitous, and dialectic process of struggle. In support of their approach,
the authors:
n identify four dialectic
tensions as being central to the process of organizing for social change:
control and emancipation, oppression and empowerment, dissemination and
dialogue, and fragmentation and unity;
n argue for a dialectic approach
which acknowledges that contradictory tensions can and do co-exist (for
example, a project can control beneficiaries with tough conditionalities
even as it emancipates them); and
n draw upon case studies set in
various contexts—social justice, academic,
corporate, artistic, and others—from both
developing and developed countries.
CONTENTS: Preface
/ A Dialectic Approach to Organizing for Social Change / Dialectic of
Control and Emancipation in Bangladesh's Grameen
Bank / Dialectic of Oppression and Empowerment in India's Dairy
Cooperatives / Dialectic of Dissemination and Dialogue in Rural India /
Dialectic of Fragmentation and Unity in Rural Appalachia / A Dialectic
Journey of Theory and Praxis / References / Name Index / Subject Index
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