This article presents a longitudinal qualitative study of the strengths and struggles of a diverse group of 27 women organizers in 1989 and 2003. It highlights the resilience of their core biography, as well as individual and collective differences based on changing context, careers, and aging over 13 years. On the basis of these women’s perspectives, the article examines an analytic document, A Framework for Feminist Organizing, that was produced by a women organizers’ collective and reinforces and modifies its practice principles. The study builds on the growing literature on feminist theory and practice applied to the field of community organizing, activism, and progressive social change.
Abramovitz, M. (2002). Learning from the history of poor and working-class women’s activism. In R. Albelda & A. Withorn (Eds.). In lost ground: Welfare reform, poverty, and beyond (pp. 169-248). Cambridge, MA: South End Press.
2.
Agosta, D., with Joseph, B.Lob, S., Mizrahi, T., Richie, B., & Rosenthal, B. (1994). Women, organizing and diversity: Struggling with the issues. New York: Education Center for Community Organizing.
3.
Belensky, M. F., Bond, L., & Weinstock, J. S. (1997). A tradition that has no name. New York: Basic Books.
4.
Booth, H. (1972). Women’s direct action organizing. Chicago: Midwest Academy.
5.
Brandwein, R. A. (1981). Toward the feminization of community and organization practice. Social Development, 5(2-3), 180-193.
6.
Bricker-Jenkins, M., & Joseph, B. (1980, March). Social control and social change: Toward a feminist model of social work practice. Paper presented at the NASW National Conference on Social Work Practice in a Sexist Society, Washington, DC.
7.
Burghardt, S. (forthcoming). The other side of organizing (2nd ed.). Rochester, VT: Schenkman Books.
8.
Burghardt, S. (1982). Organizing for social action. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
9.
Education Center for Community Organizing. (1989). Reference and resource guide for women organizers. New York: Author.
10.
Education Center for Community Organizing. (1990). Women on the advance: Highlights of the National Conference on Women and Organizing. New York: Author. Retrieved September 7, 2006, from http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/ecco/WomenOnAdvanceDocument.pdf
11.
Faver, C. A. (1994). Feminist ideology and strategies for social change: An analysis of social movements. Journal of Applied Social Sciences, 18, 123-134.
12.
Ferguson, K. E. (2001). Women and grassroots organizing. Women and Politics, 22, 97-111.
13.
Gardella, L. G., & Haynes, K. S. (2004). A dream and a plan: A woman’s path to leadership in human services. Washington, DC: NASW Press.
14.
Gittell, M., Ortega-Bustamante, I., & Steffy, T. (2000). Social capital and social change: Women’s community activism. Urban Affairs Review, 36, 123-147.
15.
Gluck, S. B. (1998). Whose feminism, whose history: Reflections on excavating the history of (the) U.S. women’s movement(s). In N. A. Naples (Ed.), Community activism and feminist politics: Organizing across race, class and gender (pp. 31-56). London: Routledge.
16.
Gutierrez, L., & Lewis, E. (1994). Community organizing with women of color: A feminist approach. Journal of Community Practice, 1, 23-44.
17.
Halseth, J. H. (1993). Infusing a feminist analysis into education for policy, planning and administration. In T. Mizrahi & J. D. Morrison (Eds.), Community organization and social administration (pp. 225-242). Binghamton, NY: Haworth.
18.
Haywoode, T. (2000). Working class women and local politics: Styles of community organizing. Research in Politics and Society, 7, 111-134.
19.
Hyde, C. (1986). Experiences of women activists: Implications from community organizing theory and practice. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 13, 545-562.
20.
Hyde, C. (2004). Feminist community practice. In M. Weil (Ed.), Handbook of community practice (pp. 360-371). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
21.
Johnson, A. K. (1994). Linking professionalism and community organization: A scholar/advocate approach. Journal of Community Practice, 1(2), 65-86
22.
Joseph, B., Lob, S., McLaughlin, P., Mizrahi, T., Peterson, J., Rosenthal, B., & Sugarman, F. (1991). A framework for feminist organizing: Values, goals, methods, strategies, and roles. New York: Education Center for Community Organizing. Retrieved September 7, 2006, from http:www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwk/ecco/woc.pdf
23.
Lauffer, A. (1978). Social planning at the community level. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
24.
Mizrahi, T., & Abramson, J. S. (1994). Collaboration between social workers and physicians: An emerging typology. In E. Sherman & W. Reid (Eds.), Qualitative research in social work (pp. 135-151). New York: Columbia University Press.
25.
Mizrahi, T., & Lombe, M. (in press). Perspectives and visions by women organizers: Views on gender, race, class and diversity. Journal of Community Practice.
26.
Mohanty, C. T., Russo, A., & Torres, L. (Eds.). (1991). Third world women and the politics of feminism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
27.
Nakleushev, Y. (2002). References for women organizers from 1990-2002. New York: Education Center for Community Organizing. Retrieved September 7, 2006, from http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/ecco/women_resources_books/pdf
28.
Naples, N. (Ed.). (1998). Community activism and feminist politics: Organizing across race, class, and gender. New York: Routledge.
29.
National Congress of Neighborhood Women. (1992). The source book. Brooklyn, NY: Author.
30.
Padgett, D. K. (1998). Qualitative methods in social work research: Challenges and rewards. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
31.
Payne, C. (1990). Men led, but women organized: Movement participation of women in the Mississippi Delta. In G. West & L. Blumberg (Eds.), Women and social protest (pp. 156-165). New York: Oxford University Press.
32.
Rothman, J., Ehrlich, J., & Tropman, J. E. (Eds.). (2001). Strategies for community interventions (6th ed.). Itasca, IL: F. E. Peacock.
33.
Ryan, B. (1992). Feminism and the women’s movement: Dynamics of change in social movement ideology and activism. New York: Routledge.
34.
Stall, S., & Stoecker, R. (2004). Toward a gender analysis of community organizing models: Criminality and the intersection of spheres. In M. Minkler (Ed.), Community organizing for health (2nd ed., pp. 196-217). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
35.
Staples, L. (2005). Roots to power: A manual for grassroots organizing (2nd ed.). New York: Praeger.
36.
Tronto, J. C. (1990). Women’s movements: Organizing for change. NWSA Journal: A Publication of the National Women’s Studies Association, 2, 492-495.
37.
Tropman, J. E., Erlich, J. L., & Rothman, J. (Eds.). (2001). Tactics and techniques of community intervention (4th ed.). Itasca, IL: F. E. Peacock.
38.
Weil, M. (1986). Women, community and organizing. In N. Van Den Bergh & L. Cooper (Eds.), Feminist visions for social work (pp. 187-210). Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers.
39.
Weil, M., Gamble, D., & Williams, E. (1998). Women, communities, and development. In J. Figueira-McDonough, F. E. Netting, & A. Nichols-Casebolt (Eds.), The role of gender in practice knowledge: Claiming half the human experience (pp. 241-286). New York: Garland Press.
40.
West, G., & Bloomberg, R. L. (Eds.). (1990). Women and social protest. New York: Oxford University Press.
41.
Zinn, M. B., & Thomas, B. (1996). Theorizing difference from multiracial feminism. Feminist Studies, 22, 321-331.
