Synopses & Reviews
When ordinary people band together to gain more control over their life conditions, the first order of business is to organize in pursuit of collective action. This how-to manual presents strategies, tactics, methods, and techniques that community members can use to set their own goals, select issues, campaign for these issues, recruit members, develop leaders, hold effective meetings, conduct research, lobby politicians and legislators, and get the word out to the media.
The author brings more than three decades of experience to the task of explaining root principles for developing and exercising collective power; he moves effortlessly from such broad discussions into providing specific tips for effective organizing methods and techniques. Armed with the information in this book, any community can bring about social change through collective action.
Review
This handbook is a primer on grassroots community organizing (GCO) and is a practical handbook for employed community organizers, executive directors of human service and grassroots organizations, lay volunteers, community activists and others who want to make a difference for those who don't have power....Roots to Power: A Manual for Grassroots Organizing is a comprehensive overview of this field of practice. In fact, several times since I received my MSW from the University of Michigan in 1968, I have dreamed about writing such a book - and never did. I'm glad that Lee Staples did, and he has packed it full of information, theories, experience and practical steps to develop tactics and strategies for local groups to take collective action in "response to problems, hopes, concerns, visions, and dreams for a better future that arise from everyday situations." I highly recommend that it be read but, more importantly, practiced.Social Work with Groups
Review
Lee Staples provides a manual for organizers and much more. The greatest strength of the book is the way in which Staples brings together clear tools for organizing while reminding the reader that organizing is a significant tool for social change....Staples' experience, analytic eye, passion for social justice, and his belief in the power of organizing define the book and it is without a question a must read for anyone remotely interested in organizing, or anyone who would like to see a world defined by justice and indeed true democracy.Journal of Community Practice
Synopsis
This how-to manual presents strategies, tactics, methods, and techniques that community members can use to take collective action in the pursuit of hopes, visions, and dreams for a better future.