Book review: People Power
People Power, the Daily Telegraph sponsored primer on campaigning in your community is a new book, published in 2008, that marks a departure from traditional literature of this nature; filled with examples of campaigns in action, the book covers ground from forming a committee, to uploading video on youtube through to making deputations to government ministers.
The book is a very expansive primer, with a stark black cover (illustrating colour newspaper clippings and photographs of empowered citizens taking action). It's an impressive work in the range of subjects it covers, and most residents association and community campaigners are guaranteed to learn something from reading it. The impressive array of subjects covered are well laid out, even if the lack of pictures and illustrations can make the work text heavy. The understated layout though may contribute to the idea of the text having some authority.
I learned a lot about this genre from reading this book. It is set in some ways to become a trend setter, and define the kind of information such works usually contain.
Where the book falls down however (perhaps somewhat inevitably, given the scale of the task it sets itself), is in offering up information on campaigning ideas and tactics seen from a particular ideology. While it is not at all surprising that the work advocates constitutional action, given that it is sponsored by the right-wing Daily Telegraph, there would be room, which the work does no exploit, to explain that other approaches are possible and indeed sometimes necessary to win popular and community victories.
"By engaging with a company rather than confronting it, a longer term understanding of community needs will be developed. This then helps future similar issues." (p98)
While there can be no doubt that in certain times and places that may hold true, the specificity of the circumstances requires really that any serious primer really ought to explain in greater depth what barriers may be put in place of such an 'understanding' occurring. To its credit however, the book then goes on to explain the levers of power in terms of such a constitutional outlook, explaining shareholder activism and the like. So while it is constitutional to a fault - even advising that community groups deliver their evidence without bias or spin to government ministers and departments with a view to changing their minds (Heathrow expansion, or second wave of Glasgow school closures anyone?) - it does give detail on how such activity can be effective. It also backs this up with real life campaign examples. This really lends credence to the work, and as much as I'd disagree with the emphasis placed on such activity, there is no doubt that this book has something to offer those who wish to engage in that kind of campaign activity, which can often be necessary.
I'd draw special attention given to the areas where this book talks about media, dealing with the mainstream corporate media and creating our own popular media; on this the book is excellent, and will provide any campaigners wishing to expand their influence and the knowledge of their groups and campaigns with an excellent (and short and to the point) how-to. This book is not 'the' book popular movements in our communities have been waiting for, but it is an excellent and groundbreaking work that lays out how groups in the UK can interact in a constitutional way, and in those spheres, and through the media and general campaigning activities common to all campaigns, exercise influence over events. If it were widely read and widely available it would move many aspects of community organisation in the UK forward.
Details of the book are online here.