The Role of Education in Community Organizing: The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) Model in Comparative Context

Distinguished featured speakers, Arnie Graf and Hahrie Han will discuss how community organizing can lead to more just economies and societies. Grassroots organizing and collective action have always been fundamental to U.S. democracy and progressive social change. Yet some instances of collective action have been especially successful. What’s the difference between a social movement that wins victories for its constituents, and one that fails? What are the factors that make collective action powerful and effective? These questions will be addressed through an examination of the Industrial Areas Foundation organizing model, one of the largest and longstanding community organizing groups in the United States.

SPEAKERS:

Arnie Graf, Long Time Lead Organizer for the Industrial Areas Foundation network of community organizations

Hahrie Han, Professor of Political Science and Director of the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Lead author of Prisms of the People: Power & Organizing in Twenty-First-Century America: The University of Chicago Press, 2021

MODERATOR:

Kamaria Porter, Assistant Professor of Education, Penn State University