COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...
COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...
COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
In retrospect, a neighborhood is “home” to many people, each with their own<br />
aspirations and expectations. In a community where there are many middle-class and<br />
lower-income persons, many forms of social conflict can occur. During resident’s efforts<br />
to solve community issues, differing perspectives on how to build a healthy community<br />
emerge. Some residents support certain reforms, while others do not; and when a<br />
community is undergoing gentrification, certain reforms gain more political<br />
representation than others. Despite the mixed feelings of the effectiveness of social<br />
service programs in communities, overall, it is largely believed by the middle-class that<br />
inner-city decline is being reversed and that urban renewal will improve the city (Grigsby<br />
and Corl 1983:87). Neighborhood groups have a mission and a commitment to<br />
improvement of “quality-of-life;” landlords have a commitment to the improvement of<br />
residential properties; social service agencies have a commitment to the welfare of<br />
individuals; and the courts to do justice and protect individual rights (Thacher 2001:766).<br />
But social reforms must contend with an important feature of modern society, and<br />
any complex society has groups with different roles and values—so every constructed<br />
institution thus pursues priorities that are separate from and in conflict with each other<br />
(Thacher 2001:766). Because people have different roles, values, and beliefs, they create<br />
institutions that communicate those roles, values, and beliefs. In doing so, they reveal<br />
their agendas and perspectives for reform and change. The ways that people frame and<br />
imagine social problems fuels their use of the resources and creation of the institutions<br />
they create to solve social problems (Williams 2001:426). These perspectives can, at<br />
times, come into conflict. The types of reform and strategies for change that are<br />
118