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Verk av Becky Bond

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This book does exactly what it promises: it gives an insight into how the plutocracy can be beaten.

If I were to be critical, I thought there was too much talk about computer programmes, etc. I know that, when one is looking at getting a President of the USA elected, they will be necessary but, for us more home based revolutionaries, they are of less value and, of course, as the text suggests, the miraculous programmes of 2016 are the geriatric relics of the 2020's.

The amount of really valuable information in just under a couple of hundred pages, is truly amazing.… (mer)
 
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the.ken.petersen | 2 andra recensioner | May 1, 2022 |
No index. The publisher does not consider this a serious book.
½
 
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johnclaydon | 2 andra recensioner | Jan 17, 2020 |
Becky Bond and Zack Exley worked together on Bernie Sander's presidential campaign. While Bernie's bid for the Democratic nomination was ultimately unsuccessful, they did mobilize an impressive amount of grass roots support. Rules for Revolutionaries gives a glimpse of the power of 'big organizing' and what it takes to ignite a movement. While the anecdotes in this book are drawn also exclusively from the Bernie campaign, Bond and Exley argue that the 'rules' reveal what leaders do in movements to mobilize millions of people.

The title, Rules for Revolutionaries alludes to the earlier work of Saul Alinsky, the influential Rules for Radicals. Alinksy was a Chicago-based labor organizer (whose work was influential for Obama). His work became a standard for organizers and activists. However Bond and Exley observe that Alinsky's model was 'premised on the paternalistic concept that an enlightened core of outside organizers was necessary to show the poor that there was a better way and then to represent them in a battle with elites" (8-9). Alinsky believed in building power so to compel negotiation (rather than revolutionize the entire power structure). Bond and Exley also criticize Alinsky for creating incrementalist Black and Latino groups designed to mitigate anger instead of effecting real change. In contrast, Bond and Exley believe their model provides a more revolutionary way forward:
The big organizing model that can fuel revolutions believes that communities are filled with talented and intelligent people who understand what was broken and, when given material and strategic resources, can wrest power from elites and make lasting change. A political revolution is different from community organizing as we know it today. (9)

The rules aren't so much 'rules' as pithy chapter titles which describe aspects of their strategic vision. Some of these are practical: "Get on the Phone!" The Work Is Distributed. The Plan Centralized," "Learn the Basics of Good Management,""The Revolution is Not Just Bottom Up; It's Peer to Peer," "Put Consumer Software at the Center," "Get Ready for the Counterrevolution." Other rules are about the right orientation toward the work of organizing: "You Won't Get a Revolution if You Don't Ask for One," "The Revolution Will not be Handed toYou on a Silver Platter." A couple of rules describe the issues worth organizing for: "Fighting Racism Must Be the Core Message to Everyone," "There is No Such Thing as a Single Issue Revolution."

If organizing is your thing, Bond and Exley have practical advice and hard-earned wisdom to share. As I said, these really aren't rules, they are practical description the approach that Exley and Bond took as part of the campaign. Whether or not the new rules overturn the old playbook remains to be seen. This is mostly just an insider's look atBernie's historic campaign.

I am not really sure that there is much revolutionary here. There is some good leadership advice such standing for something, giving people a big way to get involved, how to mobilize and empower leaders, and what it means to lead in a more cooperative less elitist way. All of this is helpful. Revolutionary? Not so much. Will these rules ignite a revolution? That remains to be seen. The rules begin to feel tedious by the end. In the end, I give this book 3.5 stars.

Notice of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
… (mer)
 
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Jamichuk | 2 andra recensioner | May 22, 2017 |

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Verk
2
Medlemmar
115
Popularitet
#170,830
Betyg
4.0
Recensioner
3
ISBN
3

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