COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

stemming from a historically marginalizing society, or capitalism,—and believed poverty
was a result of structural conditions in society. They followed a Marxist ideology of
social change and argued that throughout history the poor have been marginalized from
access to education, jobs, and property, and therefore did not have the socio-economic
foundation for social mobility. These individuals asked, What causes poverty? and What
causes illiteracy? instead of, Why are people poor? and Why can’t that person read?
From their perspective, critical systemic analyses of poverty were needed to improve the
lives of the poor.
The Oak Park Labor Association is part of a larger umbrella organization that has
offices nationwide. They follow labor organizing ideology and have an agenda to
organize unrecognized 20
workers who exist outside of the jurisdiction of the national
labor laws. They state that “the number of workers falling into the unrecognized workers
strata is growing astronomically as a result of current so-called decentralization solutions
carried out by both the private and governmental sectors in order to maintain their
position of dominance within the present economic system.” They further believe that
the government aids dependency of low-income workers through social service programs
and claim that “the social services sector is a new source of capital for those large
corporations who are based both in the service and production sector.”
In 1973, an umbrella office of a nationwide labor association in Sacramento
opened with a provisional aim to organize the domestic worker. This aim later grew into
organizing all low-income service workers. They formed deep roots within the
community and formalized an organizing process, called System Organizing, in which
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