Organizing for Power and Empowerment - Book Report/Review Example

Organizing for Power and Empowerment Introduction: Jacqueline Mondros and Scott Wilson have undeniably accomplished a great feat by writing the critically acclaimed book “Organizing for Power and Empowerment” This book is perceived as an astonishingly insightful medium to understand the empowerment process of community organizations and ordinary people. It seeks to promote all those keys which can be used by ordinary people to become powerful leaders to bring a social and economic transformation. It is unfortunate when less efficient people are seated at the highest positions, while a mass of highly talented ordinary citizens is forced to comply with their flawed policies. The authors of this book stress on changing this negative pattern by offering readers a practice-based framework. The purpose of this review is to scrutinize how this book adds to the understanding of empowerment and if it manages to add value to a wealth of research already conducted on the subject. Background information: In a business environment where fierce competitiveness is a permanent feature, empowering oneself to gain a competitive edge over others is not a small deal. A lot of wise thinking and time needs to be invested in this area. Mondros and Wilson’s highly practical framework serves to relieve the pressure encountered by many in the process of amassing power. Lack of power and limited resources can fill workers with a multitude of poisonous emotions. Such workers can get very detached from their real self and may also experience burnout as a result. The purpose of the book is to help out such workers and save them from chronic apathy and disorientation. It is claimed that the value added by community organizing education to empowering the powerless cannot be stressed enough. There is a certain level of uneasiness shown by professionals with community organizing content which is criticized in the book. Summary: The book advocates this idea that many free institutions have enormously helped to save America from potential decadence. These free institutions are actually those groups like labour unions and women’s rights organizations which have used the argument of democracy to ensure institutionalization of power. These groups have made many women empowered by improving work conditions for them. Myriad case examples underpinned by theoretical concepts are included in the book to augment the argument put forward by authors. It is stressed that all endeavours taken by employees to gain empowerment eventually lead to power of that organization. Employees try to achieve power so that “the organization, ultimately, has power” (Mondros& Wilson, 2013, p. 1). Community organizations are actually groups organized by people to attain power. These people are typically disadvantages, lack resources, and are unable to have even episodic influence on bringing a change. This is why they form groups and the more number of people there are, the stronger is “the organization’s source of power” (p. 6). Evaluation: The book has sufficiently succeeded to achieve its goal judging from the critical acclaim received by the book and public reviews. Middle-class professionals are specifically targeted because it is those people who frequently feel that they have little influence on the change process which makes them feel powerless. The book helps those professionals to increase their rank and resources to become more powerful. Potential qualities of leadership are identified to help explain how empowerment and the status of a leader can be attained. A leader is that person who fully accepts responsibility, shapes an organization’s endeavours, and displays a sense of ownership. Any professional desiring to become more prominent should concentrate on making these qualities a permanent part of his/her character. Many possibilities are suggested by the book. For example, it is emphasized that there is always a possibility of turning deterioration or deprivation into motivation. In fact, it is suggested that it is actually the element of regression which serves as a propeller of group formation. This regression forces people to form groups and develop more influence. It is the ordinary citizens’ choice, actually, to continue playing victims, or seize the possibility of becoming confident activists at workplace. The move from hibernation to political opposition is not easy on many workers and the book does not include enough material on what should be done in case an employee is not in a position to become resistant. Unemployment is a big fear for many which forces people to continue bearing long hours and meagre wages. The book does not concentrate for as long as it should on how to overcome fears. The book has enough potential to be compared to some other class A books written on the same subject. This book at length discusses all essential qualities which should be acquired by a person to become a strong activist. It is quite riveting how no quality is left out and all are explored on various levels to convey a full and thought-provoking understanding to readers. This point made by authors that a more complex depiction of important skills and characteristics is needed to change vision and bring change is not convincing. I believe that depiction of all valuable and desirable personality characteristics should be kept as simple as possible to reach out to a larger body of audience. However, this book contains a wealth of information all at one place for which usually people have to refer to different sources. This makes this book worth-reading because it has the potential to readily boost knowledge. Before reading this book, my concepts related to power and empowerment were quite naïve and amateur. But, the way these concepts are explored and then laid out point by point for readers’ understanding made for a memorable personal experience. Conclusion: Concluding, “Organizing for Power and Empowerment” is a highly informative book which should be read by everyone interested in becoming empowered. This is because many important strategies are unveiled in the book, which are not hard to comprehend. Careful implementation of these strategies and understanding the mechanism behind social group formation to bring about change can add a lot of value to the practice wisdom of organizers. Analysis of practical experiences is offered by this book which is something that is not found in abundance in former literature. Reference: Mondros, J., & Wilson, S. (2013). Organizing for Power and Empowerment.USA: Columbia University Press. Read More