Privatization has been on the right-wing agenda for years. Health care, schools, Social Security, public lands, the military, prisons-all are considered fair game. Through stories, analysis, impassioned argument-even song lyrics-Si Kahn and Elizabeth Minnich show that corporations are, by their very nature, unable to fulfill effectively what have traditionally been the responsibilities of government. They make a powerful case that the market is not the measure of all things, and that a vital public sector is an indispensable component of a healthy democracy.

This latest work by legendary social activist, musician, and author Kahn outlines many of the practical tactics organizers use, but also emphasizes community organizing as a way of thinking and a way of life....

This latest work by legendary social activist, musician, and author Kahn outlines many of the practical tactics organizers use, but also emphasizes community organizing as a way of thinking and a way of life.

A practical guide to community organizing that gathers the accumulated lessons, strategies, and secrets a veteran activist’s fourty-four years of experience. This latest work by legendary activist, musician, and author Si Kahn is a different kind of community organizing book. As with other books, including some by Kahn himself, it does describe many of the practical tactics organizers use. But it’s also about community organizing as a way of thinking and a way of life. For Kahn, it has been a way of life. He has been intimately involved in some of the most important progressive struggles of the past fifty years—the civil rights movement, the Harlan County miners’ strike, the fight against prison privatization, and many more. In this unique and moving book he uses his experiences and those of the people he’s worked with to illuminate critical aspects of organizing not touched upon by more conventional manuals. The stories Kahn tells are entertaining, funny, sad, and inspiring, but they’re more than that—they’re examples of creative community organizing in action. And like the secular rabbi he calls himself, Kahn lays out the specific lessons each tale is meant to teach—not only strategy and tactics, but advice on how to deal on a personal level with the demands of a difficult but vitally important job. Creative Community Organizing will help established organizers become more innovative and encourage them to question established principles and decide if they still work. Aspiring organizers will discover a whole new way of looking at the world—they’ll gain a sense of empowerment, understand that they can live and work in ways that help make the world more just and humane. With forewords by Angela Davis and Jim Hightower “Make room, Howard Zinn! Si Kahn’s Creative Community Organizing deserves a place on the must-read shelf next to A People’s History of the United States. Warm, cheerful, candid, and wise—just like the man himself—Si’s book is more than a how-to for justice seekers, more than a gripping memoir from the front lines of bodacious modern activism. It’s the up-close and creative story of how the “people’s history” gets made.” —Jay Harris, Publisher, Mother Jones “Creative Community Organizing documents Si Kahn’s career of working for justice in ways that are deeply affecting, personally and culturally. Si is truly Democracy’s Troubadour, bringing us not just the songs and stories of democracy and justice but also the practical strategies to deepen our democratic roots.” —Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin

The right-brain way to conquering clutter, mastering time, and reaching one's goals: the first book to show creative people how to arrange their desks, their time, and their lives in a style consistent with their unique way of perceiving the world. Suggests a host of practical solutions, all in harmony with the way creative people think and act. 20 line drawings.

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In the summer of 2008, nearly fifty thousand people traveled to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert to participate in the countercultural arts event Burning Man. Founded on a commitment to expression and community, the annual weeklong festival presents unique challenges to its organizers. Over four years Katherine K. Chen regularly participated in organizing efforts to safely and successfully create a temporary community in the middle of the desert under the hot August sun. Enabling Creative Chaos tracks how a small, underfunded group of organizers transformed into an unconventional corporation with a ten-million-dollar budget and two thousand volunteers. Over the years, Burning Man’s organizers have experimented with different management models; learned how to recruit, motivate, and retain volunteers; and developed strategies to handle regulatory agencies and respond to media coverage. This remarkable evolution, Chen reveals, offers important lessons for managers in any organization, particularly in uncertain times.