Organizing for Social Change: A Dialectic Journey of Theory and Praxis, Paperback/Michael J. Papa

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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 Professor, Department of Communication, 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, Professor, Department of Communication, 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 Assistant Professor, School of Communication Studies, Ohio University Conventionally, analysts of social change perceive organizational initiatives in binary terms: for instance, projects are seen as being either top-down or bottom-up; local culture is seen as being either modern or traditional. Challenging this restrictive dualistic sentiment, this important book argues that social change emerges in a nonlinear, circuitous and dialectic process of struggle between competing poles of action. In support of their approach, the authors: -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; -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 through economic empowerment); and -draw upon cases set in various contexts-social justi