Introduction
Community organizing invoke double thoughts of masses coming together to forge a common agenda and folks protesting against an apparent injustice. The social conditioning we are accustomed to imply upon us that these masses are ideologically antagonistic. However in the recent past, community organizing has undergone an overhaul and has altered the premise and performance of the systems.
Broad based organizations have their heredity on the efforts of Saul Alinsky who defined and established the unprecedented associations of the general public in Chicago. He helped to merge two groups who would otherwise work independently. The work lobbyists associations and religious outfits, whose point of convergence was rooted in a common agenda and not on philosophies. His exploits were sensational such that community organizing swelled all over America. It is most notable that broad based organizing employs the use of intermediary bodies like churches, mosques and schools to forge for general plan and to constantly push for different welfare that concerns all the members.
In broad based organizing, the intermediary bodies link the gap between members and the big organizations of government and marketplace. It enables the constituents to record their individual worries and the similar stands to be attended to in order of importance. These intermediaries are well prepared individuals who are economically empowered. The main issues here are broad based, interests and power that require additional explanations to enable us to understand this issue.
There are interests of individuals which relates to the persons’ concerns, wants, needs or necessities. Our interests are varied but when in a multitude we find that we may have a single interest or related ones. In order to advocate for it or them successfully, we join groups, movements or even organizations. There we find a commonality, a sense of belonging and a shared identity. In political circles there is an assumption which has paid off very well that there is power in masses. Being together as a group is an important aspect of broad based community organizing.
The aspect of power revolves in our ability to be prolific in our endeavors. Power accords us a platform to effectively push for our own ends. In an organization there is an advantage of being powerful, it gives the individuals the feeling of being protected and a kind of meaning. It is a medium by which we affect and get affected by others. Powerful organizations are largely successful in their campaigns. Say for example the government which assembles all it can to bring a desired change.
The concept of broad based can be established in two aspects of miscellany and multiplicity of issues. These organizations are deliberately made up of different backgrounds in terms of religious affiliations, gender, ages, and wealth among others. This makes up the aspect of miscellany. Furthermore the multiplicity of issues revolves around this miscellany which is capable of fronting several and diverse agendas for consideration.
Gecan explains this concept by categorizing organizations on basis of cultures such as the market culture, bureaucratic culture and relational culture. He argued that market culture is rational and interested in individualistic gains. It is all about business which includes making profits and losses, competition and trading. The entities here are centrally concerned about their advancements and they are often successful, effective and versatile. Businesses and individuals in the private sector make up the majority of this culture.
Bureaucratic culture is made up of the government and its several institutions that deal with services to the citizenry. They are well structured and organized. There is so much order where people are placed in hierarchies from the bottom to the top. There are rules and regulations which are followed to the latter. It must be taken into account that the credibility of this culture is their view that the community is not about the masses but a world of wants. The workers are the foot soldiers in managing welfare of the community.
Lastly, the foundation of relational culture is made up of charitable individuals and groups who come together. It is important to consider that the other cultures began in this manner. Their stating point was a humble one. They had a pressing need; they considered the prospects, designed answers and got to work. The forces behind this culture are influential individuals who create, expand and reproduce valuable open associations. They are agents of change, the forces behind most of the efforts to address the concerns of the members of the institutions they head.
Broad based community organizing is about bringing together people of all kinds who have similar concerns and use this as a platform to push for their varied interests and agendas.
Expectations
I had no expectations about community organizing; it was interesting to learn that it is always a misunderstood concept. Most people take community organizing as the work of revolutionaries and renegades. People who rally the community to fight for some perceived rights which often evade descriptions. It was interesting to know that the most influential organizations of the world started in humble ways and that community organizing is a lot deeper.
Strengths in the Gecan model
The Gecan model is deep in content. It exemplifies the three cultures in the real sense of the world. The criteria for categorization are about the forces behind and the structures in the respective cultures. The model has vast explanations on the way these cultures are perpetuated in our societies. It concurs with the reality. Lastly, the Gecan model presents to us an opportunity to compare and contrast the three cultures. From the explanation, the points of divergence and convergence enable us to put them in two extremes.
Weaknesses
The Gecan model is much about and less of how to execute the whole concept of community organizing. The premises used are not fully supported. The three cultures are explained in a historical perspective and are highly critical and pessimistic.