Grassroots House Meeting Organizing Strategy

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The power of the internet was glimpsed during the Dean campaign, but the organizing aspect was lacking in New Hampshire. Iowa and South Carolina demonstrated the effectiveness of grassroots house meeting organizing, which enables building from the bottom up without the need for institutional leaders. This strategy originated in East LA in the late 1940s when Fred Roth rejected Saul Licki's traditional community organizing approach.

Whether trying to influence involvement in foreign wars, fight for social justice, or win an election, effective organizing is crucial. Here’s my 2012 conversation with MARSHALL GANZ, who dropped out of Harvard in 1964 to participate in Freedom Summer, worked for years as one of the lead organizers for United Farm Workers, and helped devise the grass-roots model for Obama’s 2008 campaign. Now a lecturer in public policy at Harvard, I can say without reservation, we need to learn from him. You can find more at marshallganz.com