«The purpose of this research is to examine Community Organizing in a Diverse Society, edited by Felix G. Rivera and John L. Erlich. The plan of the research will be to set forth a description of the content and organization of the book, and then to discuss the major ideas, as well as the theses, assumptions, and evidence that the various contributors use to support them, along with an assessment of the relevance of the book for social workers as far as dealing with groups is concerned.
The controlling factor of Community Organizing in a Diverse Society must be said to be cultural diversity or multiculturalism. In thirteen separate essays, contributors discuss and analyze community-action practices that foster commitment to sociopolitical organizations in minority communities, with a view toward meeting "the challenge of what needs to be done to bring about lasting change in communities of color" (Rivera & Erlich, 1995, p. ix). The general focus is on informing the efforts of culturally specific organizers and social workers who have had varying degrees of success among racial minorities. Specifically, the focus of analysis departs from the Marxist mode; that is, analysis of social and economic integration of marginalized, mainly urban, subcultures are based on an understanding of race and poverty, rather than on a theory of class warfare.
Each essay in Community Organizing in a Diverse Society offers a perspective of community-action organizing within a racially or culturally specific subgroup. Throughout, the mainstream social group is presumed to be white and comparatively wealthy, and presumed to be the community that will in some measure be obliged to respond to the needs of communities marginalized by race and poverty. As Pantoja and Perry put it: "Mythology aside, we do not live in an integrated society. We live in pluralistic communities within the larger white society. These communities are created both by chance, prefe...