COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

the development of businesses) ignores the broader social context in which problems in
the community occur.
These “dilemmas” of activism reveals the tension implicit between improving
geographic communities, helping individuals within that community, and focusing on
issues of social class inequality (Rubin 1994:403). The overarching question posed is—
who do revitalization projects benefit and how do the poor cope with neighborhood
changes? Courville and Piper (2004:41) argue that “power is a factor in all social-change
processes and hence will be a factor in discussions on the role of collective hope in social
change.” Katznelson (1981) questions whether social change activities can
simultaneously focus both upon ‘class’ and ‘community,’ as activities that target
geographic or social communities distract attention from the class-based causes for
economic equality. Social problems are perceived differently by residents, who will
decide to join community groups based on how they define a social problem and how
they believe social problems can be fixed. Each group believes the work they are doing
is a collective effort that will benefit the poor. But agendas for change implicitly benefit
some groups, while excluding others, and these agendas for change inherently work to
further stratify and marginalize the poor.
Community Groups in Oak Park
In Oak Park, the role of community groups and their agendas for change come
into conflict as their strategies for change overlap in public space. The agendas and
strategies for change ultimately conflict in the community as initiatives to improve the
community are undertaken. There are contradictions of the agendas of community
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