I want to follow up John McKnight’s video from the other day with one of his blogs, from March 2011.
‘In a neighborhood, people are empowered by the work they do together. Often, they use this power to confront institutions and advocate for the neighborhood’s self-interest. In this kind of action, power is understood as our ability to get someone else to do something for us. This is the consumer power of confrontation.
The other kind of neighborhood power results when we come together to create something for ourselves – from ourselves. This is the power of citizens engaged in community building.
