Organize! Building From The Local For Global Justice

Review To understand the world, you have to try to change it. That’s what the authors of this fine set of essays and meditations have taken to heart. The result? Some of the best insights on power, organizing, and revolution to be found in Canada or beyond. -- Raj Patel, author of “The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society ”and“ Redefine Democracy” This superb collection needs to find its way into the hands of every activist and organizer for social justice. In a series of dazzling essays, an amazing group of radical organizers reflect on what it means to build movements in which people extend control over their lives. These analyses are jam-packed with insights about antiracist, anticolonial, working-class, and anticapitalist organizing. Perhaps most crucially, the authors lay down a key challenge for all activists for social justice: to take seriously the need to build mass movements for social change. Don’t just read this exceptionally timely and important work–use it, too. -- David McNally, professor of political science, York University, Toronto, author of “Global Slump: The Economics and Politics of Crisis and Resistance” and “Another World Is Possible: Globalization and Anti-Capitalism” Any book called Organize! has me from hello, but this one brings serious thought and analysis to what it really means to organize and why it is essential to build a base for the work in order to fashion both power and victories. It is also refreshing to read new, vibrant reports of organizing and shine needed light on the exciting work being done both by veteran and younger activists and organizers. -- Wade Rathke, chief organizer of ACORN International, and former founder and chief organizer of ACORN in the United States Product Description How do we organize for progressive social change in an era of unprecedented economic, social, and ecological crises? How do political activists build power and critical analysis into their daily work for change? Grounded in struggles in Canada, the USA, and Aotearoa/New Zealand, as well as transnational activist networks, Organize! links local organizing with global struggles for social justice. From organizing immigrant workers to mobilizing psychiatric survivors, from arts and activism for Palestine to support for Indigenous Peoples, activists, academics, and artists reflect on the tensions and gains inherent in a diverse range of organizing contexts and practices. Organize! encourages us to use history to shed light on contemporary injustices and how they can be overcome. About the Author Aziz Choudry (1996-2021) was Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Social Movement Learning and Knowledge Production in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University, and Visiting Professor at the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation, University of Johannesburg. He was involved in a range of social, political and environmental justice movements and organizations since the 1980s. He is the author of Learning Activism: The Intellectual Life of Contemporary Social Movements, co-author of Fight Back: Workplace Justice for Immigrants. His co-edited books include Organize! Building from the Local for Global Justice, Unfree Labour: Struggles of Migrant and Immigrant Workers in Canada, and Reflections on Knowledge, Learning, and Social Movements. Jill Hanley is Assistant Professor in the McGill School of Social Work, where she teaches community organizing, social policy, and applied research. Eric Shragge teaches at the School of Community and Public Affairs, Concordia University in Montreal and is co-author of Contesting Community: The Limits and Potential of Local Organizing (2010).