Texas-based affiliates in the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) offer a strong, mature organizing model compared with other community organizations. In Hope for Justice and Power, Kathleen Staudt examines the twenty-first-century activities of the Texas IAF in multiple cities and towns around the state, drawing on forty years of academic teaching and on twenty years of active leadership experiences in the IAF. She identifies major contradictions, tensions, and their resolutions in IAF organizing related to centralism versus local control, reformist versus radical goals, stable revenue generation, greater gender balance in leadership, and evolving IAF principles.To analyze the Texas IAF, Staudt draws on participant observation in El Paso, statewide meetings and training, on interviews, and on archival documents and media coverage. This book will appeal to those interested in community-based organizing and leadership, Mexican American and women's politics, civic-capacity building in education, political socialization, and both Texas and urban politics.
Kathleen Staudt is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Endowed Professor of Western Hemispheric Trade Policy Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso. She is the author or editor of more than twenty books, including Border Politics in a Global Era and Violence and Activism at the Border.
"By providing a multiregional perspective, Staudt masterfully analyzes the IAF Alliance School network that formed in 1992. The Texas IAF spearheaded political conversations to advance the quality of education in Texas and reformed policies that previously left behind many students from low-income or multilingual households. Staudt's work adds to the rich field of women's, gender, and Latinx political studies. Hope for Justice and Power is a welcoming read for anyone interested in broad-based community organizing."--New Mexico Historical Review "It is not often that I come across a fresh take on the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), particularly one written by a scholar activist using a creative mix of first-hand experience and scholarly analysis. It is likely to be widely assigned in racial and ethnic politics and social movement courses, especially in Texas, and will rank as one of the best works on the IAF mode of organizing."--Benjamin Marquez, author of Democratizing Texas Politics "Staudt displays capacious knowledge of recent developments in political science and philosophy and has an insider/outsider perspective well suited to the Texas IAF. She has a clear appreciation for the achievements of the Texas IAF but also is not afraid to advance criticisms."--Dennis Shirley, author of Community Organizing for Urban School Reform "Drawing on an unrivaled scholarly understanding of the subject matter, Staudt provides a contextually centered and expertly detailed analysis of the evolution and impact of the Industrial Areas Foundation affiliates in Texas. She shines a light on the oft-ignored, but powerful, role progressive NGOs play in the Texas political system, in particular in the promotion of social justice."--Mark P. Jones, Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies and Baker Institute Political Science Fellow, Rice University
