The power to act: dissecting distinctive elements of power and ownership in community organizing in England and Wales

This paper considers the continuing evolution in England and Wales of the Alinsky tradition of broad-based community organizing, a process that seeks to build permanent and powerful alliances of local civil society institutions. The paper introduces some of the tenets of the Alinsky model of broad-based organizing and how this has been adapted to the UK context. Drawing on a leading charity that has pioneered this work, Citizens UK, the paper identifies five distinctive enablers of power and ownership found in community organizing: leadership, relationships, money, democratic behaviours, and actions. Taken together, broad-based community organizing offers an interesting alternative proposition for building community power and is a model that requires further academic, policy, and practitioner attention in the field of community development.