COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

In retrospect, a neighborhood is “home” to many people, each with their own
aspirations and expectations. In a community where there are many middle-class and
lower-income persons, many forms of social conflict can occur. During resident’s efforts
to solve community issues, differing perspectives on how to build a healthy community
emerge. Some residents support certain reforms, while others do not; and when a
community is undergoing gentrification, certain reforms gain more political
representation than others. Despite the mixed feelings of the effectiveness of social
service programs in communities, overall, it is largely believed by the middle-class that
inner-city decline is being reversed and that urban renewal will improve the city (Grigsby
and Corl 1983:87). Neighborhood groups have a mission and a commitment to
improvement of “quality-of-life;” landlords have a commitment to the improvement of
residential properties; social service agencies have a commitment to the welfare of
individuals; and the courts to do justice and protect individual rights (Thacher 2001:766).
But social reforms must contend with an important feature of modern society, and
any complex society has groups with different roles and values—so every constructed
institution thus pursues priorities that are separate from and in conflict with each other
(Thacher 2001:766). Because people have different roles, values, and beliefs, they create
institutions that communicate those roles, values, and beliefs. In doing so, they reveal
their agendas and perspectives for reform and change. The ways that people frame and
imagine social problems fuels their use of the resources and creation of the institutions
they create to solve social problems (Williams 2001:426). These perspectives can, at
times, come into conflict. The types of reform and strategies for change that are
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