Overview

In this book, two leading experts on community action provide the first scholarly examination of the civic renewal movement that has emerged in the United States in recent decades. Sirianni Friedland examine civic innovation since the 1960s as social learning in four arenas (community organizing/development, civic environmentalism, community health, and public journalism), and they link local efforts to broader networks and to the development of ""public policy for democracy."" They also explore the emergence of a movement for civic renewal that builds upon the civic movements in these four arenas. In contrast to some recent studies that stress broad indicators of civic decline, this study analyzes innovation as a long process of social learning within specific institutional and policy domains with complex challenges and cross-currents. It draws upon analytical frameworks of social capital, policy learning, organizational learning, regulatory culture, democratic theory, and social movement theory. The study is based upon interviews with more than 400 innovative practitioners, as well as extensive field observation, case study, action research, and historical analysis.

Full Product Details

9780520226371

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""A new philosophy of organizing is afoot in the land. It works with, as well as opposing, City Hall. It forms ongoing relationships. It takes the long view. It works from the bottom up. It deliberates about ends and means. It crafts voluntary agreements. It fosters common work. After reading this book, you think, 'Maybe we are entering a new era of citizen action and self-government.' I recommend this book to any activist and anyone who wants to understand activism in America."" - Jane Mansbridge, Harvard University ""Civic Innovation in America is a remarkably detailed catalog of major efforts at civic renewal in health, the environment, journalism, and community organizing - taking place in scores of cities and towns around the country in the past 20 years. Yes - vital, innovative, in-the-trenches civic work in the midst of the Reagan-Bush-New-Democrat era."" - Michael Schudson, University of California, San Diego ""[This] is a wonderful book, rich in insights and stories of the growth of civic learning, dazzling in its facility with issues of contemporary democratic and social theory.... Civic Innovation in America not only chronicles the broad and diverse stirrings of a movement for democratic revitalization, it aids in bringing the movement into being. It could not come at a more crucial time."" - Harry Boyte, University of Minnesota"""

A new philosophy of organizing is afoot in the land. It works with, as well as opposing, City Hall. It forms ongoing relationships. It takes the long view. It works from the bottom up. It deliberates about ends and means. It crafts voluntary agreements. It fosters common work. After reading this book, you think, 'Maybe we are entering a new era of citizen action and self-government.' I recommend this book to any activist and anyone who wants to understand activism in America. - Jane Mansbridge, Harvard University Civic Innovation in America is a remarkably detailed catalog of major efforts at civic renewal in health, the environment, journalism, and community organizing - taking place in scores of cities and towns around the country in the past 20 years. Yes - vital, innovative, in-the-trenches civic work in the midst of the Reagan-Bush-New-Democrat era. - Michael Schudson, University of California, San Diego [This] is a wonderful book, rich in insights and stories of the growth of civic learning, dazzling in its facility with issues of contemporary democratic and social theory.... Civic Innovation in America not only chronicles the broad and diverse stirrings of a movement for democratic revitalization, it aids in bringing the movement into being. It could not come at a more crucial time. - Harry Boyte, University of Minnesota

""A new philosophy of organizing is afoot in the land. It works with, as well as opposing, City Hall. It forms ongoing relationships. It takes the long view. It works from the bottom up. It deliberates about ends and means. It crafts voluntary agreements. It fosters common work. After reading this book, you think, 'Maybe we are entering a new era of citizen action and self-government.' I recommend this book to any activist and anyone who wants to understand activism in America."" - Jane Mansbridge, Harvard University ""Civic Innovation in America is a remarkably detailed catalog of major efforts at civic renewal in health, the environment, journalism, and community organizing - taking place in scores of cities and towns around the country in the past 20 years. Yes - vital, innovative, in-the-trenches civic work in the midst of the Reagan-Bush-New-Democrat era."" - Michael Schudson, University of California, San Diego ""[This] is a wonderful book, rich in insights and stories of the growth of civic learning, dazzling in its facility with issues of contemporary democratic and social theory.... Civic Innovation in America not only chronicles the broad and diverse stirrings of a movement for democratic revitalization, it aids in bringing the movement into being. It could not come at a more crucial time."" - Harry Boyte, University of Minnesota""

Author Information

Carmen Sirianni is Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Brandeis University. He is the editor of Working in the Service Society (1996) and Critical Studies in Organization and Bureaucracy (1994). Lewis Friedland is Associate Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and author of Covering the World: International Television News Services (1993).

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