Introduction to Community Organizing is an open source textbook by Cynthia Kaufman and Angélica Esquivel.

Introduction to Community Organizing contains all of the materials you need to teach a class that gets students started on their pathways to becoming community organizers. The book helps students develop the skills, knowledge, and abilities to make a difference in their communities. The three themes that run throughout the book are: Leadership Development, Organizing Skills Development, and Social Movement History. The book may be used as the curriculum and assignments for a full course. Or faculty may choose to take modules and use them in their own class. Because the materials are all OER, faculty can take and modify any of the materials in ways that serve their needs.  You can access the book here.

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Published by Cynthia Kaufman

Cynthia Kaufman is the Director of the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action De Anza College where she also teaches Philosophy. She is the author of five books on social change: Consumerism, Sustainability and Happiness: How to Build a World Where Everyone Has Enough (Routledge 2023); The Sea is Rising and So are We: A Climate Justice Handbook (PM Press 2021); Challenging Power; Democracy and Accountability in a Fractured World (Bloomsbury 2020); Getting Past Capitalism: History, Vision, Hope (Lexington Books 2012) and Ideas for Action: Relevant Theory for Radical Change (2nd Edition PM Press 2016). She is a lifelong social change activist, having worked on issues such as tenants’ rights, police abuse, union organizing, international politics, and most recently climate change. She received her PhD and M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and her B.A. in Development Studies from University of California, Berkeley. She started college at Mira Costa, a community college in Oceanside Ca.

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