Mon Valley Case Study Responses

Read "How the Strategic Prinicples of Consensus Organizing Were Applied in the Mon Valley" in Ch.3 of Consensus Organizing. The following questions come from "Questions About the Mon Valley Case Study" in Ch.3 of Consensus Organizing.

Identify where you see strategic principles of consensus organizing demonstrated in the Mon Valley Case Study. Provide 150-word answers for each of the following principles and the summary. Include references.

· Strategic principle 1: Solutions to local problems should come from affected communities.

· Strategic principle 2: Pragmatic leadership is present in communities, though not always recognized.

· Strategic principle 3: Building relationships and strategically positioning leaders to make a program work requires time, care, and finesse.

· Strategic principle 4: Self-interest can be harnessed.

· Strategic principle 5: If a project achieves its short-term goals without positioning the participants to make even greater gains in the future, then an opportunity has been missed.

· Summary: Overall, what did you learn about the strategic principles from this case study? What questions do you still have about the strategic principles? How difficult or easy would it be to implement these principles?

References

Ohmer, M. L., & DeMasi, K. (2009). Consensus organizing: A community development workbook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.