Organizing for Power

Abstract

Abstract This chapter applies the ideal of resisting state capture to the third major task of democratic theory, as outlined in Chapter 1: namely, setting priorities for civic action and participation outside the state. It begins by noting how little attention democratic theorists have paid to the problem of creating countervailing power. This is to be expected from ideals of collective self-rule, which naturally focus on more collaborative tactics. However, even those allied perspectives that recognize the critical importance of countervailing power—such as agonism, republicanism, and pluralism—have paid very little attention (with a few notable exceptions) to how it is actually constructed. The chapter begins to rectify this problem by examining a particularly promising paradigm of democratic action, articulated by several overlapping traditions of organizers in the labor movement, the community organizing tradition, and the Black freedom movement: “organizing for power.” Its tactics are limited in scale, so it cannot serve as a complete agenda for civic action and participation, but this model boasts a unique track record of achieving two things that are otherwise very difficult: transformations of political identity and sustained collective action among large groups of people. In fact, the chapter argues, these two goals are inextricably linked, and the distinctive practices of organizing for power are uniquely suited to achieving them both simultaneously. Though it must be supplemented by other modes of action, and especially by organizations at larger scales, it ought to be a central part of any democratizing agenda.