Principles in Organizing

This course will provide students with an introduction to the history, theory, and practice of organizing, broadly defined. The central question it poses is how different groups – labor unions, community organizations, social movements, elites, and others – use collective action to advance their interests and transform society. Through readings, short films, and guest speakers involved in a range of campaigns, students will develop a well-grounded perspective on different issues and approaches to organizing. This comparative perspective will enable students to familiarize themselves with the core organizing skillset of power analysis, targeting, base building, leadership development, coalition building, and campaign escalation and evaluation. Students will also consider the “bigger picture” issues of power and strategy with which all organizing efforts must engage. These include such questions as: How to understand the relationship between organization building and movement building? How to develop and narrate a vision of social transformation? How to negotiate the tension between immediate practical imperatives and socially transformational ambitions? How to make sense of the relationship between social movement organizing and electoral politics? The course will evaluate these questions through a blend of social movement theory, historical inquiry, and case study. Upon completing the course, students will have a strong grasp of organizing as both a theory of change and a set of practical methods and frameworks for taking strategic action directed toward achieving social change.

Fall, Spring