Advocacy for Social Change

Herbert J. Rubin is a retired professor of sociology from Northern Illinois University. His interests are in urban studies, community organizing and research methods, with a focus on organizations working to help low-income individuals and improve the quality of life in neighborhoods of deprivation. He is author of Renewing Hope within Neighborhoods of Despair: The Community-Based Development Model and co-author of Community Organizing and Development.

Preface Abbreviations, acronyms or shorthand expressions PART I The focal catalytic coalition model 1 Advocating for the poor through state and national coalitions 2 NCRC and the issues that emerge from defending the Community Reinvestment Act 3 NLIHC and issues on affordable housing for lower-income individuals PART II Mobilizing and informing members 4 Mobilization: building a foundation for coalition action 5 The power of information and information as power PART III Advocacy and lobbying efforts to bring about policy changes 6 The tools of coalition advocacy: working with the mass media to frame issues 7 Techniques for influencing legislators and regulators 8 Lobbying in person 9 Legislative and regulatory agency hearings 10 Other forms of political pressure PART IV Bringing it all together at the annual meeting 11 What annual conferences accomplish 12 Encounters with elected and regulatory officials at the national conference Conclusion: reflections on the theory and models for coalition advocacy and suggestions for progressive activism Appendix: methodological approach Index