My Bookshelf: Roots for Radicals

A follow up to my last bookshelf entry.... When Saul Alinsky died in 1972, Ed Chambers took the helm of the IAF. He continued Alinsky's organizing work and, most importantly, the training of new organizers. Chambers, the IAF national staff and the next generation of community organizers they trained built the IAF into the powerful organization it is today (with over 60 well-established affiliates in the US, as well as projects in Britain, Germany and South Africa).

Key to the IAF's success, is its national training workshops. Though it is certainly cannot replace the experience of the actual training sessions, Chamber's book, Roots for Radicals, distills many of the key theoretical points. It is not exactly a how-to guide for organizing, but rather an attempt to illuminate the more basic understandings of the relationships necessary to successful community organizing.

Roots for Radicals is another book on my must read list. If you've read it, let me know your thoughts. Have your own political book recommendation? Post it in the comments section.

Tags: community organizing; Ed Chambers; Industrial Areas Foundation; IAF; Roots for Radicals