New Volume: Journal of Community Power Building

Posted by on April 7, 2006

[posted from Comm-Org listserv]

From: “Shirronda Almeida”

The Journal of Community Power Building is an exploration of power building among community development corporations (CDCs) and their leaders, working to achieve significant change in urban and rural communities throughout Massachusetts. In the first volume of the Power Journal, contributors were asked to explore fears and ambivalence about power in the move toward community change. In the second volume, we ask people from the community development field-leaders, organizers, as well as other staff members-to define justice, and describe how it informs the work they do. What role do CDCs play in the pursuit of justice? In the call for papers, we presented the following questions:

* Do people with various backgrounds, nationalities or cultures see justice differently? How has your own experience of justice shaped the way you approach your work (as an executive director, organizer, volunteer leader, etc.)? Can individual understanding of justice clash with the way CDCs use justice to guide their work?
* How are CDCs (or your CDC specifically) striving for justice in your community? What initiatives have you undertaken in your CDC to make you think that CDCs foster justice? Are CDCs part of a broad “justice movement”? Is their ability to strive for or achieve justice limited by their nature or structure in their?
* How do we know if CDCs are effective in their work toward justice? In what ways do CDCs measure how they are able to achieve justice?
* Tell us a story of a person or event connected to your CDC work that illustrates an aspect of justice.

If you would like to receive a free copy (price negotiable for extra copies) please send an e-mail to Shirrondaa@macdc.org with the “Power Journal” in the subject heading.

The journal is also available on our website: http://www.macdc.org/docs/res_publications.html

Shirronda Almeida
Director of Membership Initiatives
MACDC * 89 South Street, 4th Floor * Boston, MA 02111
t. 617.426.0303 x23 / f.617.426.0344