Activist Scholar: Selected Works of Marilyn Gittell features seminal writings by Marilyn Gittell, a preface by Sara Miller McCune (Founder and Executive Chairman, SAGE Publications), a general introduction by Ross Gittell and Kathe Newman, and part introductions by Ross Gittell, Kathe Newman, Maurice Berube, and Nancy Naples. The part introductions highlight the key areas of research Marilyn Gittell championed and provide insightful context for the articles that follow. In addition to exploring Marilyn Gittell's groundbreaking research, this book serves as a bridge to current and future community-based urban research that advances citizen participation and empowerment. Marilyn Gittell was a renowned scholar and social activist. A graduate of Brooklyn College (BA) and New York University (PhD), she held her first faculty appointment at Queens College (1960-1973) before serving as Associate Provost (1973-1978) at Brooklyn College. She then joined the faculty of the City University of New York's Graduate Center (1978-2010) as Professor of Political Science. She helped launch and was the founding editor of Urban Affairs Quarterly, the leading academic journal in the field of urban research. Activist Scholar highlights Professor Gittell's writings on community organizations, citizen participation, urban politics, the politics of education, and gender. She specialized in applied and comparative research on local, regional, national, and international policies and politics, and placed a high priority on training researchers and scholars. Marilyn Gittell was a mentor to hundreds of students in the City University of New York system, and her legacy of activism continues as her students, now on the faculties of universities across the nation, engage in important work globally.
Ross Gittell is the James R. Carter Professor at the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore School of Business and Economics. His scholarly focus involves applying economic and management theory to economic development issues. He received his PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University. He is the author of two books, Renewing Cities and Community Organizing: Building Social Capital as a Development Strategy, and over 75 academic articles. He has published in a variety of academic journals, including the New England Economic Review, Economic Development Quarterly, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Regional Studies, National Civic Review, and Journal of Entrepreneurial and Small Business Finance. Kathe Newman is Associate Professor in the Urban Planning and Policy Development Program at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. She holds a PhD in political science from the Graduate School and University Center at the City University of New York. Her research explores urban change-what it is, why it happens, and what it means. Her research has explored gentrification, foreclosure, urban redevelopment, and community participation. She has published articles in journals such as Urban Studies, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Urban Affairs Review, Shelterforce, Progress in Human Geography, Housing Studies, and GeoJournal.
Preface - Sara Miller McCune Notes on Contributors Introduction - Ross Gittell and Kathe Newman Acknowledgments Part I: Educational Reform and Citizen Participation - Maurice R. Berube and Ross Gittell 1. Prologue and Epilogue From Confrontation at Ocean Hill-Brownsville - Marilyn Gittell and Maurice R. Berube 2. Education: The Decentralization-Community Control Controversy - Marilyn Gittell 3. School Reform in New York and Chicago: Revisiting the Ecology of Local Games - Marilyn Gittell 4. The Effect of Geography, Education and Labor Market Segregation on Women's Economic Status in New York State - Marilyn Gittell Part II: Community-Based Organizations and Community Organizing - Kathe Newman 5. Chapters 1 and 2 From Limits to Citizen Participation: The Decline of Community Organizations - Marilyn Gittell 6. Expanding Civic Opportunity: Urban Empowerment Zones - Marilyn Gittell, Kathe Newman, Janice Bockmeyer, and Robert Lindsay 7. Race and Gender in Neighborhood Development Organizations - Marilyn Gittell, Jill Gross, and Kathe Newman 8. Community Organizing, Relationships, Collaboration, and Research: Lessons From the Fund for Community Organizing Initiative - Charles Price, Barbara Ferman, and Marilyn Gittell Part III: Women's Leadership, Social Capital, and Social Change - Nancy A. Naples 9. Changing Women's Roles in Political Volunteerism and Reform of the City - Marilyn Gittell and Teresa Shtob 10. Activist Women: Conflicting Ideologies - Marilyn Gittell and Nancy A. Naples 11. The Gender Gap: Coalescing for Power - Marilyn Gittell and Nancy A. Naples 12. Social Capital and Social Change: Women's Community Activism - Marilyn Gittell, Isolda Ortega-Bustamante, and Tracy Steffy
