Glossary

Community Organizing: The process by which community groups are helped to identify common problems or goals, mobilize resources, and develop and implement strategies to reach goals they have set collectively (Minkler and Wallerstein, 2004).

Community Building: An orientation to the ways in which people who identify as members of a shared community engage together in the process of community change (Walter, 2004).

Empowerment: Social action process for people to gain mastery over their lives and the lives of their communities.

Critical Consciousness: A consciousness based on reflection and action in making change.

Community Capacity: Community characteristics affecting its ability to identify, mobilize, and address problems.

Issue Selection: Identifying winnable and specific targets of change that unify and build community strength.

Participation and Relevance: Community organizing should "start where the people are" and engage community members as equals.