The late John McKnight was an incredibly influential writer, thinker, and community organizer who, along with Jody Kretzmann, uncovered a pattern common among successful community organizing projects — they worked bottom-up from the basis of their community’s strengths and assets rather than top-down around problems and deficits. They published their research in the highly influential book, “Building the Community from the Inside Out,” and founded the ABCD Institute in the early 90s.
From reform to what works: Moving from the limits of institutions to a culture powered by neighbors
No matter where the effort began, the transformation in each of the stories is about relocating functions to the local citizen sphere from the managerial sphere. All of these stories are about democracy in action to and within the capacity of citizens to solve problems and implement new creations.
December 6, 2024