Grassroots Community Practice: Applying Alinsky's Rules in the 21st Century
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2009
Abstract
Community organizing is a core knowledge area in which social work educators often lack practical experience. This narrative traces the author s involvement in a grassroots action in his own neighborhood, where single-family homes were being excessively converted into rental units by property developers. By helping to mobilize the homeowners, the author studied how theoretical and practical knowledge from community organizing can be combined to help facilitate social change. Specifically, community organizing techniques proposed by Saul Alinsky were applied to assist the neighborhood in their campaign. As a result, the community gained a greater sense of place within the larger system, the author successfully tested theoretical concepts in a real-world setting and gained confidence as an instructor, and his students made connections between academics and practice.
Department
Social Work
Print ISSN
1080-0220
Publication Title
Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping
Recommended Citation
Mackie, P.F.E. (2009). Grassroots Community Practice: Applying Alinsky's Rules in the 21st Century. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 15(3), 47-59. https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/891/714
Publisher's Copyright and Source
Copyright © 2009 Cleveland State University. Article published by Cleveland State University in Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, volume 15, issue number 3, 2009, pages 47-59. https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/891/714
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
