A Talk with Mark Warren,
Author of Dry Bones Rattling:
Community Building to Revitalize American Democracy
Friday March 7
1-4 pm
1447 UCLA Law School Bldg.
Join UCLA students and faculty in a lively conversation with community organizers about rebuilding America's schools and communities; promoting racially inclusive participation; and the coalition politics of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) Network.
Discussants:
- Ernesto Cortes, Jr., Southwest Regional Director of IAF
- Jeannie Oakes, UCLA Presidential Professor
- John Rogers, Associate Director of UCLA/IDEA
Click here for location of Law School on the UCLA Campus. (PDF Document)
For Further info please call (310)206-8725 or email idea@ucla.edu
More info on the book:
Dry Bones Rattling: Community Building to Revitalize
American Democracy by Mark R. Warren
(Princeton University Press, 2001)
Introduction: Dry Bones Rattling
1. Community Building and Political Renewal
2. A Theology of Organizing: From Alinsky to the Modern IAF
3. Beyond Local Organizing: Statewide Power and a Regional Network
4. Bridging Communities across Racial Lines
5. Deepening Multiracial Collaboration
6. Effective Power: Campaigning for Community-Based Policy Initiatives
7. Congregational Bases for Political Action
8. Leadership Development: Participation and Authority in Consensual Democracies
9. Conclusion: Restoring Faith in Politics
Notes
Index
Book Description
Dry Bones Rattling offers the first in-depth treatment of how to rebuild the
social capital of America's communities while promoting racially inclusive,
democratic participation. The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) network in
Texas and the Southwest is gaining national attention as a model for reviving
democratic life in the inner city--and beyond. This richly drawn study shows
how the IAF network works with religious congregations and other community-based
institutions to cultivate the participation and leadership of Americans most
left out of our elite-centered politics. Interfaith leaders from poor communities
of color collaborate with those from more affluent communities to build organizations
with the power to construct affordable housing, create job-training programs,
improve schools, expand public services, andincrease neighborhood safety.
In clear and accessible prose, Mark Warren argues that the key to revitalizing
democracy lies in connecting politics to community institutions and the values
that sustain them. By doing so, the IAF network builds an organized, multiracial
constituency with the power to advance desperately needed social policies.
While Americans are most aware of the religious right, Warren documents the
growth of progressive faith-based politics in America. He offers a realistic
yet hopeful account of how this rising trend can transform the lives of people
in our most troubled neighborhoods. Drawing upon six years of original fieldwork,
Dry Bones Rattling proposes new answers to the problems of American democracy,
community life, race relations, and the urban crisis.
From the Inside Flap
"Mark Warren's comprehensive case study of the Industrial Areas Foundation is a major contribution to the growing literature on coalition politics. Indeed, it is the best empirical study ever written on multiracial collaboration to address social inequality. Featuring careful and systematic analysis of rich data on local organizing, Dry Bones Rattling will be an influential book and is must reading for those committed to revitalizing American democracy through interracial political cooperation." (William Julius Wilson, Harvard University)
"Dry Bones Rattling is timely, important, and inspiring. Timely, because this study of the most successful faith-based movement for social justice in America appears just as faith-based social initiatives have reached the top of the national political agenda. Important, because it is a deeply grounded contribution to the rapidly growing field of social capital theory. Inspiring, because by showing how civic malaise has been reversed in some of the nation's most impoverished, ethnically divided settings, this book should raise the aspirations of democratic reformers. Must reading for social theorists and civic activists." (Robert Putnam, Harvard University, author of Making Democracy Work)
"Mark Warren has written a comprehensive and insightful analysis of a profoundly important community-based movement. I have seen how the Industrial Areas Foundation organizations this book examines have revitalized communities across America, both physically and spiritually. In San Antonio, the city I know best, I watched Communities Organized for Public Service empower poor neighborhoods and give voice to their concerns. Capable new leaders emerged and the city entered a new era of citizen democracy. Dry Bones Rattling provides a compelling eyewitness account of the transformations these organizations bring, showing us a sacred force rooted in human dignity at work." (Henry Cisneros, Chairman and CEO of American CityVista)
"Dry Bones Rattling is an important addition to the literature on community organizations, populist politics, and--more than anything--religion-based politics." (James Morone, Brown University)
"Original scholarship built on strong ethnographic work, Warren's book is among the best of the outstanding scholarship on the dilemmas of American democracy that has emerged in recent years. As such it will be highly useful to specialists on grassroots movements and on the intersection of religion and politics in American life, as well as broadly useful to political scientists and political sociologists. This is excellent scholarly work on an important political phenomenon that until now has eluded adequate scholarly attention." (Richard L. Wood, University of New Mexico, author of Faith in Action)
From the Back Cover
"Mark Warren's comprehensive case study of the Industrial Areas Foundation is a major contribution to the growing literature on coalition politics. Indeed, it is the best empirical study ever written on multiracial collaboration to address social inequality. Featuring careful and systematic analysis of rich data on local organizing, Dry Bones Rattling will be an influential book and is must reading for those committed to revitalizing American democracy through interracial political cooperation." (William Julius Wilson, Harvard University)
"Dry Bones Rattling is timely, important, and inspiring. Timely, because this study of the most successful faith-based movement for social justice in America appears just as faith-based social initiatives have reached the top of the national political agenda. Important, because it is a deeply grounded contribution to the rapidly growing field of social capital theory. Inspiring, because by showing how civic malaise has been reversed in some of the nation's most impoverished, ethnically divided settings, this book should raise the aspirations of democratic reformers. Must reading for social theorists and civic activists." (Robert Putnam, Harvard University, author of Making Democracy Work)
"Mark Warren has written a comprehensive and insightful analysis of a profoundly important community-based movement. I have seen how the Industrial Areas Foundation organizations this book examines have revitalized communities across America, both physically and spiritually. In San Antonio, the city I know best, I watched Communities Organized for Public Service empower poor neighborhoods and give voice to their concerns. Capable new leaders emerged and the city entered a new era of citizen democracy. Dry Bones Rattling provides a compelling eyewitness account of the transformations these organizations bring, showing us a sacred force rooted in human dignity at work." (Henry Cisneros, Chairman and CEO of American CityVista)
"Dry Bones Rattling is an important addition to the literature on community organizations, populist politics, and--more than anything--religion-based politics." (James Morone, Brown University)
"Original scholarship built on strong ethnographic work, Warren's book is among the best of the outstanding scholarship on the dilemmas of American democracy that has emerged in recent years. As such it will be highly useful to specialists on grassroots movements and on the intersection of religion and politics in American life, as well as broadly useful to political scientists and political sociologists. This is excellent scholarly work on an important political phenomenon that until now has eluded adequate scholarly attention." (Richard L. Wood, University of New Mexico, author of Faith in Action)
About the Author
Mark R. Warren is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and
Anthropology, and Director of the Service Learning Program, at Fordham University.