Leading Locally:
A Community Power-Building Approach to Structural Change
AUTHOR
USC Dornsife Equity Research Institute
OVERVIEW
Indeed, we know that individual and community health is shaped by the conditions of a given locality—and we set out to explore such conditions as well as the capacities and power-building strategies that are needed to catalyze, create, and sustain healthy communities.
This report explores community-led structural reforms as well as investigates the story of community power building in place—in particular, 16 places across the country.
Research
themes
How do communities re-shape such conditions to improve their daily lives and those of their children?
How do community power builders—namely community organizers—put the issues on decision makers’ radars?
How do organizing and campaigns secure lasting impacts to change conditions?
Key Findings
Strategies and capacities needed are inextricably tied to place—and its historical, demographic, economic, political, and geographic contexts and structures.
Community power has multiple dimensions, including setting the public agenda, winning that agenda, and ultimately governing to realize that agenda. Governing power—not just the ability to advocate for and win policies and structural reform but also the ability to oversee their protection and implementation—is crucial.
Community power building is not just a way to achieve outcomes but is an outcome in and of itself.
Organizing and base building are the foundation of community power building, but do not exist in a vacuum. There is an ecosystem of advocacy groups, legal supporters, research centers, and intermediaries that play important roles. Yet, organizing is too often seen as being in service to an agenda determined by professional advocates, funders, or communications experts.
The time to invest in power building is now. It is appropriate to think of community power building as a long-term strategy—but that does not mean it is an activity to be postponed in favor of emergency relief or quicker policy advocacy.
Read the
reports
FINDINGS SUMMARY
Story of Place:
Community Power and Healthy Communities
Pastor, M. Ito, J., and Wander M. (2020)
FULL REPORT
Leading Locally:
A Community Power-Building Approach to Structural Change
Pastor, M., Ito, J., and Wander M. (2020)