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Saul Alinsky, according to Time Magazine in 1970, was a "prophet of power to the people," someone who "has possibly antagonized more people . . . than any other living American." People Power introduces the major organizers who adopted and modified Alinsky's vision across the United States:


--Fred Ross, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and the Community Service Organization and National Farm Workers Association
--Nicholas von Hoffman and the Woodlawn Organization
--Tom Gaudette and the Northwest Community Organization
--Ed Chambers, Richard Harmon, and the Industrial Areas Foundation
--Shel Trapp, Gale Cincotta, and National People's Action
--Heather Booth, Midwest Academy, and Citizen Action
--Wade Rathke and ACORN


Weaving classic texts with interviews and their own context-setting commentaries, the editors of People Power provide the first comprehensive history of Alinsky-based organizing in the tumultuous period from 1955 to 1980, when the key organizing groups in the United States took form. Many of these selections--previously available only on untranscribed audiotapes or in difficult-to-read mimeograph or Xerox formats--appear in print here for the first time.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright
  2. pp. i-vi
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-x
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xi-xii
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  1. Preface: Why Is Alinsky Important Today?
  2. Mike Miller
  3. pp. xiii-xvi
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  1. PART I: Introduction
  1. 1 Editors’ Introduction
  2. Mike Miller and Aaron Schutz
  3. pp. 1-16
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  1. 2 Saul Alinsky and His Core Concepts
  2. Mike Miller
  3. pp. 17-42
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  1. 3 What Is an Organizer? (1973)
  2. Richard Rothstein
  3. pp. 43-48
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  1. PART II: Alinsky’s Colleagues
  1. 4 An Introduction to Nicholas von Hoffman
  2. Aaron Schutz
  3. pp. 49-57
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  1. 5 The Woodlawn Organization: Assorted Essays (1961–1969)
  2. Various Authors
  3. pp. 58-67
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  1. 6 Questions and Answers (1959)
  2. Saul Alinsky, Nicholas von Hoffman, and Lester Hunt
  3. pp. 68-73
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  1. 7 Finding and Making Leaders (1963)
  2. Nicholas von Hoffman
  3. pp. 74-86
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  1. 8 Fred Ross and the House-Meeting Approach
  2. Various Authors
  3. pp. 87-100
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  1. 9 Cesar Chavez and the Fate of Farmworker Organizing
  2. Mike Miller
  3. pp. 101-113
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  1. 10 Dolores Huerta and Gil Padilla
  2. Various Authors
  3. pp. 114-123
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  1. 11 Tom Gaudette: An Oral History
  2. Various Speakers
  3. pp. 124-142
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  1. 12 Shel Trapp and Gale Cincotta
  2. Various Authors
  3. pp. 143-162
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  1. 13 What Every Community Organization Should Know about Community Development (1975)
  2. Stan Holt
  3. pp. 163-167
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  1. 14 John Baumann and the PICO National Network
  2. Interviewed by Mike Miller
  3. pp. 168-173
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  1. 15 An Introduction to Dick Harmon
  2. Various Authors
  3. pp. 174-184
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  1. 16 Making an Offer We Can’t Refuse (1973)
  2. Dick Harmon
  3. pp. 185-194
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  1. 17 Ed Chambers: The IAF Institute and the Post-Alinsky IAF
  2. Mike Miller
  3. pp. 195-214
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  1. 18 Organizing for Family and Congregation (1978)
  2. Industrial Areas Foundation
  3. pp. 215-225
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  1. 19 Relationship and Power: An Interview with Ernesto Cortes Jr. (1993)
  2. Noëlle McAfee
  3. pp. 226-234
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  1. 20 A Call for Organizing, Confrontation,and Community Building (1995)
  2. Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood
  3. pp. 235-238
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  1. 21 Standing for the Whole (1990)
  2. Industrial Areas Foundation
  3. pp. 239-244
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  1. PART III: Different Directions
  1. 22 An Introduction to Heather Booth, the Midwest Academy, and Citizen Action
  2. Aaron Schutz, with Commentary by Mike Miller
  3. pp. 245-263
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  1. 23 Direct Action Organizing: A Handbook for Women
  2. Heather Booth
  3. pp. 264-273
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  1. 24 An Introduction to Wade Rathke and ACORN
  2. Aaron Schutz
  3. pp. 274-284
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  1. 25 ACORN Community Organizing Model (1973)
  2. Wade Rathke
  3. pp. 285-304
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  1. 26 The Story of an ACORN Organizer: Madeline Talbott
  2. Interviewed by Mike Miller
  3. pp. 305-310
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  1. PART IV: Concluding Commentaries
  1. 27 The State of Organizing
  2. Mike Miller
  3. pp. 311-325
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  1. 28 Thinking beyond the Present
  2. Aaron Schutz
  3. pp. 326-338
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 339-352
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