Community Power and Grassroots Democracy: The Transformation of Social Life - Tapa dura

Popular participation, local democracy and grassroots organizing have become watchwords not only for social movements the world over but even for official development agencies. In refreshing contrast to the tendency to skate over the internal divisions and stratification that characterise all communities, this book asks the hard questions - about the power of central bureaucracies, the lack of local skills and organizational experience, the impact of national and transnational structures, and social divisions. Not only does the reader learn an immense amount about the limits as well as potential of community initiatives in the South, but the new social movements approach is skilfully married with resource mobilization theory to develop a more nuanced and inclusive theoretical paradigm. This can help us to understand and advance community-based forms of popular power in all their rich variety as one part of the solution to the development crisis.

This work sets out to ask hard questions about the success of popular participation, local democracy and grassroots organizing. It is exciting if community participation leads to empowerment, development and socio-political transformation, but what of the obstacles - the power of central bureaucracies, the lack of local skills and organizational experience, the impact of national and transnational structures, and social divisions? The contributors, drawing on years of research experience in Central America and the Caribbean, document the strengths and weaknesses, the limits and the potential, of community initiatives in the South. By combining the new social movements approach with resource mobilization theory, they aim to help the reader to understand the rich variety of community-based forms of popular power and their contribution to solving the development crisis of the South. The book pays great attention to gender relations and the role of women. Original case studies are included from: Costa Rica; Cuba; Dominican Republic; Haiti; Jamaica; and Chile.