A universally accepted goal for community organizing is for organizations to obtain political power in order  to affect decisions that shape social outcomes that influence the communities they live in for a better quality of life.  If obtaining power is the major goal of all organizing then the understanding of power and how to motivate leaders to develop a framework for conceptualizing  of power is essential.

According to Franz Neumann in his writings from Approaches to the Study of Political Power, three questions have to be face in the analysis of the roots of political power: The conceptual framework has to be established; the institutional setting to be clarified; and the historical process to be understood which leads to a change in institutions and different attitudes toward power and to a different political behavior. "People Power and Politics" by Luman Jay Gould and E. William Steele, University of Vermont, Random House Press,1961.

The word Power seems to bring up all kinds of feelings and reactions to most people.  For many  people it brings up the concept of something to be avoided.  When we look historically at the roots of some of this thinking we come to the realization that this concept and belief  came from some of the churches perspectives including the philosophy of St . Augustine.  Augustine felt that politics is evil, political power is coercion, evil in origin and purpose.  Yet,  Plato and Aristotle saw political power as being  the community, there was  no distinction.  Every activity of the citizen was seen as political.

Pierre Teilhard De Chardin had some interesting perspectives on the Phenomena of Man.  He reflected on how may we conceive and hope that human Unamisation  will be realised  on earth.  He felt that the glass was half full rather than half empty.  He actually believed that through our evolutionary process of reaching the Omega Point, humanity was actually progressing.  He gave reasoning to  this optimistic projection to the human state of affairs to three elements that clearly were being manifested in our development as a society of beings in that the reality of the curvature of the Earth,  the reality of the free unification by attraction, and the reality of a point of Universal Convergence on the Horizon. ("The Future Of Man", by Pierre Teilhard De Chardin, Harper and Row,1964, Chapter Twenty) http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/2967/DeChardin.html

The curvature of the Earth,  that is a no brainer, we all know that the earth is round and curved as the hips of a beautiful women.  We now know that the earth is no longer flat or linear in its makeup or in its thinking.  Or do we know this for sure.  In the fourth century the mind of humanity was very caught up in its thinking as linear. We still without a doubt believed that the world was flat as a pancake.  This linear thinking also influence the thinking in that time on original sin.  That we were all born with the stain and sin of Adam and through the grace of God we could be wiped clean.

In looking at classical thinking before Augustines time we see that Plato and Aristotle had a differing view of political power than Augustine.    Plato and Aristotle, both agreed that political power was synonymous to the community,  there was no distinction between the two. Every activity of the citizen was seen as political.  Plato, in his writing of the the Republic and in his socratic dialogue used the analogy of the cave,  being chained, and puppet masters  to illustrate systematic reasoning and critical inquiry to political ideas. Aristotle was a student of Plato  lacking the poetic fire of his mentor, Aristotle was more systematic and   analytical than Plato.  Aristotle stated the following in regards to the freedom of the poor,  poverty is the parent of revolution and crime,  and that  when there is no middle class,  and the poor greatly exceed in number,  troubles arises, and the state soon comes to an end.

The early church and specifically after the Rule of Constatine, in the fifth century we find that the church made a major shift in its view towards humanity and to society as a whole. No longer was the church a church of the poor and the oppressed but now the church became a representative of the rich and the powerful.  The church, conveniently became a tool of the puppet masters to control and subordinate the masses into submission and abdication to Roman Rule and ecclesiastical authority.   The concept of original sin and having subjects being submissive to their masters was inculcated into the doctrines of the church.

The renowned debate  between St. Augustine and Pelagius from 410-418, St. Augustine stated that human nature is corrupt and morally inept,  your are absolutely powerless  without grace. Christ saves us from Adam's sin.  (Rom. 5:12) Paul and Augustine were  influenced by their  personal experience of living.  Pelagius was  Irish, his life was great, loving, existential. His concept was that nature is good, babies are born as good, when a child is baptized it is original blessing.  418 Augustines view was canonized and Pelagius was declared a heretic,  political clout won out according to various historians.

In the great historical debate between Augustine and Pleagius from 410  to 418 AD.  We had Augustine on one corner of the boxing ring with the church officials  and the Roman Emperor as his fight managers and on the other side of the ring you had Pelagius, the Irishman with the common people and nature as his managers.  As an outcome of this well documented fight of the century we know the results of the fight, Augustineís view was canonized and Pelagius was declared a heretic.   Augustine stated that human nature is corrupt and morally inept,  your are absolutely powerless  without grace. Christ saves us from Adam's sin.  (Rom. 5:12) Paul and Augustine were  allies influenced by their  personal experience of living.  Pelagius at the other end was  Irish, his life was great, loving, existential. His concept was that nature is good,  babies are born as good, when a child is baptized it is original blessing.  Augustine like Paul the author of the Book on Romans was a recent convert.  He had previously lived a very full life with wine, women and song and was now feeling remorseful and self righteous and projecting his guilt, blame and shame on humanity as whole.

The authorities in power during that era,  having there foot on the throat of the commoners, saw to their self-interest to be on the side of thinkers that had the ability to lie to the public and encourage there disempowerment mentality of being by nature corrupt and with stain from birth.  That only a God, allied to the rich and powerful could give them salvation if they would only be obedient and submissive to their lords and masters.The Myth of the Fall and the Doctrine of Original Sin  by Anne Baring
 

Rousseau, Jean Jacques, the first modern writer who was of the people. a starving artist  wrote "The Social Contract" in 1762,  he was credited in influencing  the American Revolution.  One of famous quotes was, "Man is Born Free; and everywhere he is in chains." He advocated economic equality, questioned private property, brought up the concept of General Will - the public interest of the community. On slavery and conquest he wrote: "The right  of conquest has no foundation...war does not give the conqueror the right to massacre the conquered people, the right to enslave them cannot be based upon a right which does not exist."

Early History of in political thinking that affected  American activism was 1884 Fabian Society from England that was founded on the principle  that facts do matter and that men can be peacefully persuaded to apply reason to social problems. Based on The name of a Roman General, Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator-the "Delayer" The motto: For the right moment you must wait, as Fabius did; but when the right time comes you must strike hard, or your waiting will have been vain and fruitless.  Sidney Weber, Clement Atlee, Prime Minister of the first majority Labour Party , wrote "The Labour Party in Perspective" in  1937. To put the Bible into the hands of an Englishman is to do a very dangerous thing.

In America, Bessie McClenahan during the 1920s, concentrated on the practical aspects of community organizing as a means for common citizen to have access to political power.  She believed in the process of integrating the organizer into the community  with the concept of solidarity in relation to social change.   She introduced several strategies including:

• organizer should make a windshield survey of the community by riding around
• have informal meetings in private homes
• no hasty or premature statements concerning future activities of the organization
• investigate the community prior to arriving there
• establishing a relationship with leaders
• study the community by investigating the spirit, temper and point of view held by various sectors of the community,
• the community itself should must recognize its needs and attempt solutions to its problems
• the organizer should aid and direct but not control this process
• the organizational plan should reflect the communities needs but not duplicate or replace existing agencies.
• the organizer should should begin with an uncomplicated project to gain confidence and demonstrate success.
• the organizer should make full use of the local press to increase the influence of the organization and have it established in the minds of the people.

http://www.sol.com.au/kor/13_03.htm
http://www.mkgandhi.org/
Bibliography:
 

"Great Political Thinkers: Plato to the Present" by William Ebenstein, Princeton University, Rinehart & Co., 1951.

"People Power and Politics" by Luman Jay Gould and E. William Steele, University of Vermont, Random House Press,,1961

"The Federalist Papers" by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, Penguin Books, 1961

"Democracy in America" by Alexis DeTocqueville, Philips Bradley, 1945.

"Rules for Radicals", by Saul Alinsky, Vintage Books, 1971.

"Reveille for Radicals", by Saul Alinsky, Vintage Books,1969.

"Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life" by Robert Bellah,  Harper & Row, 1985.

"The Phenomenon of Man" by Teilhard de Chardin, Harper and Row, 1959.

"The Divine Milieu" by  Teilhard de Chardin, Harper and Row, 1960.

"The Future of Man" by Teilhard de Chardin, Harper and Row, 1964.

"The Love of Jesus and the Love of Neighbor", by Karl Rahner, The Crossroad Publishing Co., 1983.

"Jesus Christ Liberator: A Critical Christology for Our Time", by Leonardo Boff, Orbis Books, 1978.

"A Theology of Liberation", by Gustavo Gutierrez, Orbis Books, 1973.

"The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York", by Robert A. Caro.New York, Knopf, 1974.

"Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire, The Continuum Publishing Corporation, 1982.

"The Zero-Sum Society: Distribution and the Possibilities for Economic Change", by Lester Thurow, Basis Books Inc. 1980.

" The Affluent Society", By John Kenneth Galbraith, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1958.

"The Culture of Contentment", by John Kenneth Galbraith, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1992.
http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Philosophy/Galbraith.htm

"Lobbying for Social Change" by Willard Richan, The Haworth Press, 1995.

"The Empowering Approach to Social Work Practice", by Judith Lee, Columbia Uniiversity Press, 1994

"Organizing for Power and Empowerment, by Jacqueline Mondros and Scott Wilson, Columbia University Press, 1994.

"Community Organizing and Development", by Herbert and Irene Rubin, Macmillan Publishing, 1992.

"The Roots of Community Organizing: 1917-1939", by Neil Betten and Micheal Austin,  Temple University Press, 1990.
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