Wind(s) From Below: Radical Community Organizing to Make a Revolution Possible

by Team Colors Collective

"In Wind(s) from Below: Radical Community Organizing to Make a Revolution Possible, we [the Team Colors Collective] address current organizing in the U.S. in context of the class decomposition of recent decades. Following the years of fire we find ourselves circulating through winds and whirlwinds, which are struggling to intensify and connect amongst historically-specific forms of repression, infusion and capitulation. Through an inquiry into and analysis of contemporary social struggles, we argue that the social field is populated with a rich set of organizational possibilities, all of which are potential and becoming. We argue for a renewed emphasis on radical community organizing that challenges the non-profit industrial complex, the self-imposed limitations of activist identity, professionalized organizing, the limitations of the Alinsky model and urban-centrism. In their place we seek to amplify struggles that form through the substance of our own lives and our own reproduction, continuing into creating concrete mechanisms and procedures, and ending with the importance of becoming-other and becoming-revolutionary to build movements. It is through these movements that we build a new world, one in which many worlds fit."

Genres: Nonfiction

First published July 27, 2010

Reviews

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great and quick read, can easily do it in one sitting. The book, broken down into four parts, outlines much of the state of the current class composition in the Left and the parts of degeneration taking place through the institutionalization of left institutions, namely unions and NGOs. Team Colors outlines the idea that "Everyday Resistance" takes place all around us, and need to be an important starting point when developing a community organizing strategy. Goes into interesting examples inside of labor, housing justice, and other struggles, and brings in the necessity of care work in developing movements that are reproductive.

While that may sound dense, it is actually very readable and interesting, so highly recommended!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice little booklet to accompany "Uses of a Whirlwind". overviews the political moment in the US as of 2010, with all its intricacies and dilemmas. a very useful and quick read, with an amazing bibliography. "radical community organizing" projects are highlighted and opposed to the bulk of what passes for the Left at this time (nonprofits, Democrats, business unions...)