What do you think?
Rate this book
How Organizations Develop Activists: Civic Associations and Leadership in the 21st Century
Why are some civic associations better than others at getting--and keeping--people involved in activism? From MoveOn.org to the National Rifle Association, Health Care for America Now to the Sierra Club, membership-based civic associations constantly seek to engage people in civic and political action. What makes some more effective than others?
Using in-person observations, surveys, and field experiments, this book compares organizations with strong records of engaging people in health and environmental politics to those with weaker records. To build power, civic associations need quality and quantity (or depth and breadth) of activism. They need lots of people to take action and also a cadre of leaders to develop and execute that activity. Yet, models for how to develop activists and leaders are not necessarily transparent. This book provides these models to help associations build the power they want and support a healthy democracy. In particular, the book examines organizing, mobilizing, and lone wolf models of engagement and shows how highly active associations blend mobilizing and organizing to transform their members' motivations and capacities for involvement.
This is not a simple story about the power of offline versus online organizing. Instead, it is a story about how associations can blend both online and offline strategies to build their activist base. In this compelling book, Hahrie Han explains how civic associations can invest in their members and build the capacity they need to inspire action.
Using in-person observations, surveys, and field experiments, this book compares organizations with strong records of engaging people in health and environmental politics to those with weaker records. To build power, civic associations need quality and quantity (or depth and breadth) of activism. They need lots of people to take action and also a cadre of leaders to develop and execute that activity. Yet, models for how to develop activists and leaders are not necessarily transparent. This book provides these models to help associations build the power they want and support a healthy democracy. In particular, the book examines organizing, mobilizing, and lone wolf models of engagement and shows how highly active associations blend mobilizing and organizing to transform their members' motivations and capacities for involvement.
This is not a simple story about the power of offline versus online organizing. Instead, it is a story about how associations can blend both online and offline strategies to build their activist base. In this compelling book, Hahrie Han explains how civic associations can invest in their members and build the capacity they need to inspire action.
250 pages, Paperback
First published July 31, 2014
26 people are currently reading
613 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 20, 2020
Hahrie Han's "How Organizations Develop Activists" doesn't break new ground but offers useful case studies and systematic presentation to discuss how organizations can best increase the activity of and expand their base.
January 15, 2015
I picked this one up based on a podcast interview with the author. The short version of the argument suggests that most civic associations' activities can be characterized as seeking to either mobilize or organize activists. While changes in technology make it increasingly easy to mobilize activists to take low-effort mass action (by signing an online petition, for example), the author concludes that successful, high-engagement organizations (those able to get their members to consistently take action or take on new responsibilities) are primarily characterized by their attention to organizing their activists members.
The author defines organizing as a focus on transforming the motivations and capacities of activist members; among other means, this is achieved through a delegation of autonomous responsibility, mentor-guided reflections, and strengthening interpersonal relations amongst activists — both as a means of socially-enforced accountability for the volunteer commitments, and as a means of integrating the cause and their participation in it as part of their social identity. (If anything, I wanted more on the social aspects of this, which were the most interesting parts for me.) The most effective organizations ultimately do both — mobilizing as broad a pool of supporters as possible, while structuring their engagements in ways that allow them to identify and cultivate candidates that can be organized and trained to serve as future leaders.
Although I'm only somewhat familiar with the tenets of organizer training from practical experience, my experience as a participant in a few voluntary civic associations does sync up well with the author's findings. It also seems like some of the insights here are applicable to other types of organizations seeking to recruit supporters for collective actions, potentially including some of the violent political organizations that form my main areas of study. (Paul Staniland's Networks of Rebellion is my closet immediate reference point in this regard, with its focus on social networks as the progenitors of insurgent organizations. This study suggests how such networks may be consciously built and expanded upon from their initial core leadership.)
The author concludes by arguing that civic associations serve an important function in American democracy, bringing members together in collective action, modeling forms of civic participation, and transforming activists into politically engaged citizens. For practitioners in the organizing / civic activist space, there's plenty of value in here. All in all, the book is clearly and concisely argued, and its bibliography has added a few more items to my reading list.
The author defines organizing as a focus on transforming the motivations and capacities of activist members; among other means, this is achieved through a delegation of autonomous responsibility, mentor-guided reflections, and strengthening interpersonal relations amongst activists — both as a means of socially-enforced accountability for the volunteer commitments, and as a means of integrating the cause and their participation in it as part of their social identity. (If anything, I wanted more on the social aspects of this, which were the most interesting parts for me.) The most effective organizations ultimately do both — mobilizing as broad a pool of supporters as possible, while structuring their engagements in ways that allow them to identify and cultivate candidates that can be organized and trained to serve as future leaders.
Although I'm only somewhat familiar with the tenets of organizer training from practical experience, my experience as a participant in a few voluntary civic associations does sync up well with the author's findings. It also seems like some of the insights here are applicable to other types of organizations seeking to recruit supporters for collective actions, potentially including some of the violent political organizations that form my main areas of study. (Paul Staniland's Networks of Rebellion is my closet immediate reference point in this regard, with its focus on social networks as the progenitors of insurgent organizations. This study suggests how such networks may be consciously built and expanded upon from their initial core leadership.)
The author concludes by arguing that civic associations serve an important function in American democracy, bringing members together in collective action, modeling forms of civic participation, and transforming activists into politically engaged citizens. For practitioners in the organizing / civic activist space, there's plenty of value in here. All in all, the book is clearly and concisely argued, and its bibliography has added a few more items to my reading list.
April 3, 2016
EDIT: I had a skillshare day with the author and she was so knowledgeable and helpful that I've added a star to this review. My gripes about the book below (which I won't amend) I think could be a result of pressure on academics to constantly produce work. If she continues to research this topic and write about it, amend the book in five years, it'll be a great piece of work.
I liked the concept of the research and I think the message overall is very valuable for campaigns and movement building...but I was disappointed. I had hoped for something less academic, but even so I have read plenty of academic writing and have been entertained. I found at times the repetition to be a little tedious (most academic work can feel repetitive) and really it didn't pull me in. In fact, I began to wonder if the author had started the work as a journal article and was then given a book deal and ran with it without enough substance. Felt like the first two chapters, in true academic form, kept explaining what the book would cover, then there were two chapters on the actual research, then a conclusion. Methodology was briefly introduced throughout the opening chapters but then it was mainly lumped into an appendix. Just felt like she was filling time with the first few chapters! This may sound harsh but I used to work for an academic, so I know how these things go.
Final complaint: the editing/proofreading was a bit sloppy. Some pretty obvious typos partnered with the the fact that I think she managed to gaff on the name of an interviewee. She is very specific that one organisation case study have participants with names starting with P, the other with D (I think). She managed to mix this up.
NEVERTHELESS, the theory is great, the results incredibly helpful and insightful. That's all you really need so I should probably be les cynical
I liked the concept of the research and I think the message overall is very valuable for campaigns and movement building...but I was disappointed. I had hoped for something less academic, but even so I have read plenty of academic writing and have been entertained. I found at times the repetition to be a little tedious (most academic work can feel repetitive) and really it didn't pull me in. In fact, I began to wonder if the author had started the work as a journal article and was then given a book deal and ran with it without enough substance. Felt like the first two chapters, in true academic form, kept explaining what the book would cover, then there were two chapters on the actual research, then a conclusion. Methodology was briefly introduced throughout the opening chapters but then it was mainly lumped into an appendix. Just felt like she was filling time with the first few chapters! This may sound harsh but I used to work for an academic, so I know how these things go.
Final complaint: the editing/proofreading was a bit sloppy. Some pretty obvious typos partnered with the the fact that I think she managed to gaff on the name of an interviewee. She is very specific that one organisation case study have participants with names starting with P, the other with D (I think). She managed to mix this up.
NEVERTHELESS, the theory is great, the results incredibly helpful and insightful. That's all you really need so I should probably be les cynical
March 27, 2018
Maybe just read the conclusion and dive into the individual chapters if you feel like you want to know more.
November 30, 2018
too long & redundant but worth it for the insights! Would have been improved by more specific examples and suggestions, not just generalizations.
October 20, 2021
This was the perfect book to read as a follow-up to Labor Notes' Secrets of a Successful Organizer! It takes the basic ideas on that book and provides more context and research to WHY those secrets work.
One of the most interesting things in the book was the author's assertion that effective organizing isn't about the specific organizations. He notes that The New Organizing Institute, which is a liberal organization, asks activists to talk about a "Story of Self, Us, and Now," while the the American Majority, a conservative organization, calls this same strategy "Me, Together, Do" (Han 163). Both are about engaging people with stories.
In the end, this a great read for anybody who wants to develop their leadership, organizing, and/or advocacy skills.
One of the most interesting things in the book was the author's assertion that effective organizing isn't about the specific organizations. He notes that The New Organizing Institute, which is a liberal organization, asks activists to talk about a "Story of Self, Us, and Now," while the the American Majority, a conservative organization, calls this same strategy "Me, Together, Do" (Han 163). Both are about engaging people with stories.
In the end, this a great read for anybody who wants to develop their leadership, organizing, and/or advocacy skills.
June 7, 2021
Don’t read this unless you’re making research about similar topics, there are waaay better resources for folks who *practice* organizing. Essentially this scholar spent time with sierra club & a doctors association and made sweeping research generalizations about organizing culture & structure. Ultimately I agreed with some of her conclusions from my own experience organizing, and I liked the challenge to McAdam’s biographical availability. Just could have been approached differently and been better anchored in more research/experiences/literatures.
October 5, 2025
The tone is quite academic but the content is very practical. As someone helping to run an organization trying to engage people deeply, the advice and anecdotes rang very true and were very insightful.
March 12, 2018
Instructive.
May 15, 2021
Opened my eyes to how organising can build capacity and impact. Really important book.
May 20, 2022
If you can get past the academic style this is written in, you’ll find some useful info!
February 26, 2023
Useful insights but a bit redundant, as other readers have pointed out
June 19, 2024
Helpful, but very academic. It reads like long academic paper.
December 28, 2016
required reading for organizers and activists. explores thoroughly why people move from low engagement to high engagement in organisations. Not the most accessible writing, but really wonderful for those already practising.
December 6, 2015
This book was very helpful for me as I prepare to work as an organizer with a "low engagement" civic association.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews