The power to act: dissecting distinctive elements of power and ownership in community organizing in England and Wales

Abstract

This paper considers the continuing evolution in England and Wales of the Alinsky tradition of broad-based community organizing, a process that seeks to build permanent and powerful alliances of local civil society institutions. The paper introduces some of the tenets of the Alinsky model of broad-based organizing and how this has been adapted to the UK context. Drawing on a leading charity that has pioneered this work, Citizens UK, the paper identifies five distinctive enablers of power and ownership found in community organizing: leadership, relationships, money, democratic behaviours, and actions. Taken together, broad-based community organizing offers an interesting alternative proposition for building community power and is a model that requires further academic, policy, and practitioner attention in the field of community development.