PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY ORGANSING
CEO Women Acting In Today's Society
Marcia lewinson
WORKSHOP AIMS
• Gain an understanding of the
principles and tools within Community
Organsing,
• Practice organsing a campaign using
Community Organising Skills
PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY ORGANSINGH
WORKSHOP
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WORKSHOP AIMS
Awareness of Community Organising
Building one to one relationships
Leadership roles in organsnsing
Community Organsing a tool for
campaigning
WAITS Vision, Mission and Aims
Established 1993
Vision
‘Creating a future where all women are empowered to make positive
change’
Mission Statement
‘Enabling women from diverse areas within the West Midlands to
develop themselves and others’
Aims
1. To ensure women get their voices heard
2. To help women take a positive step forward
3. To be responsive to women’s needs
4. To provide opportunities for all women
COMMUNITY ORGANISING
Community Organising aims to bring groups and networks
together to strengthen organisations and neighbourhoods
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It is usually a broad base of community groups, faith based
organisations and or schools.
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In 1960s America it was used to regenerate areas
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I was prevailed to spend a week in Chicago visiting Community
Organising broadbased organisation
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WAITS Example
COMMUNITY ORGANISING
PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY ORGANSINING
• Saul Alinskey based in Chicago, is credited with originating
the term community organizer during this time period.
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Alinsky wrote Reveille for Radicals, published in 1946, and
Rules for Radicals, published in 1971. With these books,
Alinsky was the first person in America to codify key
strategies and aims of community organizing.
• He also founded the first national community organising
training network, the Industrial Areas Foundation,
COMMUNITY ORGANISING
• A People’s Organization is a conflict group, [and] this
must be openly and fully recognized. Its sole reason
in coming into being is to wage war against all evils
which cause suffering and unhappiness. A People’s
Organization is the banding together of large
numbers of men and women to fight for those rights
which insure a decent way of life. . . .
Saul Alinskey Rules for Radicals 1971
Q. What is the name of the most famous community
organiser in the world
Community Organising
PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY ORGANISING
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Organizers identify and develop a diverse group of
members who agree to serve as the organisation’s public
voice on a variety of issues.
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Organizers are attuned to the power relationships
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and political agendas surrounding an issue. Organisers develop
sound organising strategies based on this power analysis.
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Organisers recruit and develop leaders
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An organiser’s role is to build public relationships
Levels of Relationships
Intimacy
Feelings
Ideas and Judgments
Facts and Gossip
Rituals and Cliché e.g. Weather
COMMUNITY ORGANISING
Park Street Estate is an area in Birmingham, which is made up of low
income families, Single parents and elderly residents.
The housing stock is made up of Council owned Houses and Flats.
The area is predominantly 70% white working class, 5% second
generation Caribbean 10% South Asian from Pakistani and
Bangladeshi families 10 % are peoples from new communities e.g.
Poland, Somalia, Sudan and Iraq.
The Council have plans to turn the local play area into car parking space to
accommodate the increase of vehicles in the area.
COMMUNITY ORGANISING
PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY ORGANISING
The local community development worker based in the community flat has carried
out consultations though community meetings held at the community flat. These
meetings were poorly attended. As only residents using the community flat knew
about the consultation.
The results of the consultations were given to the council who have agreed to turn
the play area into a car park, based on the limited results of the consultation.
A local resident has seen a notice in the local paper setting out the plans for the play
area and is angrey as their children use the area. Turning the park into a car
park will mean an increase in traffic and local children having to go a mile down
the road to the local park.
Activity
1. Group to organise a meeting where the residents challenge the Car Park
Plans
2.Who would be the four main leaders in the process, what would be their
role
COMMUNITY ORGANISING
• Whistle stop tour
• Saul Alinskey Rules for Radicals ,
Reveille for Radicals
• Training available
Contact marcia@waitsaction.org
THANK YOU
WAITS uses our ability to network, mobilise and be creative in order to Make
change for ourselves families and communities