Activism, Inc.: How the Outsourcing of Grassroots Campaigns Is Strangling Progressive Politics in America [Hardcover]

Reviews on this book are going to be slanted based on whether the reviewer agrees with the author's thesis. I feel that the author did a good job of presenting both the positive and negative aspects of canvassing, and of doing her research. More often people's opinions on canvassing tend to fall to the extremes.

Interestingly the most vehement defenders tend to come from the 1% or so of canvassers who have stuck with it, and secured higher-level positions in canvassing or social change organizations.

What's missing is a model for an alternative form of getting people started in activism. For me, that model would be to get involved in community organizations that get to choose their own local campaigns, run themselves, and fund their own positions by doing grassroots fundraising (and raise the money from people who are involved in the democratic decision-making of the organization - for instance by having regular membership meetings). These organizations would stay in a community for ten years or more, build deep relationships with its members and other progressive organizations, and create a base for longterm social change.

... where a few organizations serve as the umbrella for the activism of many. Interesting premise of how the shift toward centralized activism has hurt liberal/left political causes by distancing them from true grassroots. It's missed the value of community relationships and narrows a pipeline through which future leadership develops. Certainly the Democratic party did better nationally when they focused on party infrastructure closer to the grassroots. And that's this author's premise: to shift the democrartic party away from a more top-down elitist structure to the more grassroot egalitarian approach of the republican party.

While candidates and issues matter, her book is strictly about presentation of these. And she underscores the idea that people who know their neighbors and are involved in a community are more likely to win votes. Good documentation (4 stars) and dry until nearly the end (2 stars) but worthy reading.

This book is a description of a research project undertaken to determine if the use of canvassers is hurting the ability of progressive politics to keep young people engaged and that it actually blocks entry into beginning jobs at progressive political organizations and non-profits. Much of the book is devoted to describing canvassing and contains material from a number of interviews she conducted with canvassers in 2003 and 2004.

My daughter took a position as a canvasser for one summer, and much as the author described in the book, the ads for the job were highly misleading and the work it entailed had little to do with helping with environmental campaigns, unless you consider raising money as an effective tool for fixing environmental issues. As a major in Environmental Science with a minor in Public Policy, my daughter thought she would be working on a campaign to help clean up the plastic patch in the Pacific Ocean, not standing on a street corner begging people to give money so that lobbyists could be paid.

The author presents a somewhat rosy picture of the canvass. In fact, my daughter worked for 10 to 12 hours a day (no overtime) standing in front of stores and at college campuses describing the campaign and trying to get people to give her cash, or better yet, from the organizations perspective, a monthly pledge on their credit card. She wasn't bothered by the long hours or the rejection, but was bothered by the pay system and by a lack of knowledge of the area by her "directors". Because they were new to the area, as they were moved frequently around the country, they had little clue as to where to find places to solicit that would not be repetitive. In my daughter's case, they went to an area outside of the student union of a major college campus (during the summer) at least 3 to 4 times a week. Rarely, if ever, did the directors scout new locations despite continued promises. The directors couldn't understand why the canvassers were not able to make quota. In fact, I know professors at the university and when I told them what my daughter was doing, they cringed. Everyone on that campus had been exposed and there was simply no more funding.

Although there was significant turnover, my daughter hung on until an injury occurred from the long hours of standing. The organization refused to file a worker's compensation claim, telling my daughter that they were not legally responsible. In addition, when she finally had to quit (because the orthopod warned her continued standing that way would lead to permanent damage) they failed to send her a lot of money they owed her. We fought with them, but they changed directors so often that no one seemed to know what was going on. Even the State of California couldn't settle anything.... they couldn't get any further than we could.

As for the thesis, I'm not sure that the author is right that it burns people out on the political process. My daughter is still in college and still very involved with politics....just not with any canvassing groups. There were, however, a number of other young people who came and went and it did dim their ideology.

If you are considering a job with one of these groups (and they are all the same) I strongly recommend you read this book. I wish I had known of it before my daughter started....I would have put a halt to it. The information you read may just make cooking fries for the summer seem like a great idea.

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