Cooperation and Coalition Development Among Neighborhood Organizations: A Case Study

The widespread existence and importance of progressive interorganizational coali tions are well documented in the social science literature and in the popular media. We often hear about the benefits of such coalition formation (e.g., "power in num bers" and "mutual support"). However, questions of how coalitions actually work and what can be done to help coalitions achieve their commonly held goals are often neglected. Through an in depth analysis of one coalition (which in this paper is called United Neighborhood Housing Efforts), many of the complex issues affecting the success of cooperative systems among organizations are identified and discussed. Several recommendations are made about how to fully involve participants in a cohesive coalition development process. It is argued that to attain success in "pull ing fragments together," a coalition does not have to "direct" the lines of communi cation and cooperation. Instead, interactive channels between participating groups must be stimulated. By providing opportunities and "excuses" for intergroup con tact, participants are better able to make those contacts they require. It is important that the core of the coalition emphasize and symbolize the unity that exists among its constituents. There are coalitions, however, which claim that they work to "empower" people, but in effect, choose structures and activities that fall short of progressive goals and cooperative ideologies. This can be unintentional (in which case a good organizational consultant can help) or intentional as was the case for the two coalitions which were approached by the researcher before UNHE. Some discre pancies between the stated ideologies and processes of these coalitions are discussed.