|
Principles
and Reasoning Behind the Skills
|
.Training
Handout.
|
The
concepts and principles that the mobilizer must understand
|
..
| To
be a successful mobilizer, you need more than a few technical skills in
public dialogue and organizing groups for action. |
. |
You
need to know why to use those skills. You need to know principles. |
..
| If
your target is a community, then you should know some sociological concepts
about the nature of communities and the nature of social change (including
development) of communities. This means that you need some understanding
of social organization, the subject matter of sociology, anthropology,
economics, politics, and the forces and processes that belong to those
disciplines. (See "Culture.") |
. |
Right
now it is not necessary to have a university degree, but you should teach
yourself the principles and knowledge of those subjects. |
..
If
you want to strengthen (empower)
a
low income community, you must understand
the
enemy, which is the dependency syndrome. (See: "Dependency").
|
..
| If
your aim is the removal or eradication of poverty,
you need to know more than the symptoms and results of poverty. You also
need to understand the causes of poverty, in order to support and promote
changes that will counteract those causes. |
. |
You
must see that poverty alleviation merely reduces the pain, temporarily,
but does not contribute to poverty eradication. Poverty is not merely a
question of money, and money alone
will not eradicate poverty. (See Principles of
Poverty Reduction"). |
..
| If
you look in "Key Words,"
you will find a fairly comprehensive list of basic concepts for the community
worker. |
. |
With
each you will not find a dictionary definition; you will find a few notes
relevant to the purposes of this hand book: how to be a mobilizer. |
..
A
later module, Principles of Community Empowerment,
shows you in more detail the principles
that
lie behind the methods and skills that are available to you on this web
site.
|
..
| Do
not memorize those notes. Think about each concept. Write about them in
your journal. Discuss them with colleagues at meetings, conferences, workshops. |
. |
During
your relaxing times, after work with friends, take a little time away from
discussing football scores to talk about one or two of these concepts. |
..
| Trying
to learn "once and for all," Is like trying to eat, "once and
for all." |
. |
Learning,
like community development, should never end. When you stop learning, you
are dead. |
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|
5
