Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Through a comparison of the dilemmas that organizers faced as Ronald Reagan ascended to power with those that today’s organizers encounter, this book provides the first historical understanding of why progressives have been unable to confront systemic power. Without assigning blame, the book explores how the dramatic changes in both the political economy and the nature of “community” have affected organizers’ approaches to inter-group dynamics and the hyper-focus on identity, power, and privilege. Building on the author’s 1982 classic work The Other Side of Organizing, later chapters examine the humble yet transformative ways organizers can build upon personal, social, and value-based approaches to their work—“the other side”—that can strengthen their engagement, alliance-building, and mobilization skills. Given the stark political, economic, and environmental conditions progressives confront, the final chapter details two possible organizing approaches for the future. The first is built on the clarion call to foundations to fully support alliance-building underway among noted progressive groups so they develop the capacity to confront institutional power rather than emphasizing empowerment projects of little threat to the status quo. The chapter ends by detailing a second alternative, outlining what “radical hope” provides for people facing environmental and political devastation. By fighting for both the hope of sustained mobilization and the radical hope of profound loss, the book ends with the same challenge offered organizers 40 years ago: by transforming themselves with the flexibility, courage, and openness found through their mutual humanity, organizers increase the possibility of transforming our world.</jats:p>