Lubna Alli

Reading:

Contesting community: The limits and potential of local organizing

Chapter 1: Community and Its Discontents

DeFilippis, J., Fisher, R., & Shragge, E. (2010).

The contrast between liberalism and neoliberalism as it affects community organizing is at the core of this reading. DeFilippis et al. posits the central question that, “in the face of the current global economic crisis, what is the potential for social change in the current context, and what is the place of community efforts in any progressive advance?” He goes on to talk about the benefits of community organizing, highlighting that it has the power to change policies and bring in progressive reform. The US reforming from liberalism free market policies to neoliberal state regulated social policies was a result of radical post global economic crisis response. Generally, the confluence of economic crisis and political victory provides a golden opportunity for progresive social change and community organizing. He concludes by arguing that community is both objectively and subjectively important. Objective because of the vital role it plays in the reproduction of capitalism, and subjective because of its significance in both people’s experiences, memories and happiness, and also their interactions with the larger political economy and the understandings they have of that political economy. Given all these discussions on community, the implications community engagement at both the liberal and neoliberal level would look different. In a free market society, the challenges might be low community engagement as there is little to no incentive to be involved. In a government regulated society, the challenge might be shifted to a discourse around lack of autonomy at the individual level. Which one of these market conditions are best suited to prepare for successful local organizing? How might state intervention benefit community and social change initiatives? Or, is it possible to do the both harmoniously?