Dry Bones Rattling Community Building to Revitalize American Democracy [Paperback]

Dry Bones Rattlingoffers the first in-depth treatment of how to rebuild the social capital of America's communities while promoting racially inclusive, democratic participation. The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) network in Texas and the Southwest is gaining national attention as a model for reviving democratic life in the inner city--and beyond. This richly drawn study shows how the IAF network works with religious congregations and other community-based institutions to cultivate the participation and leadership of Americans most left out of our elite-centered politics. Interfaith leaders from poor communities of color collaborate with those from more affluent communities to build organizations with the power to construct affordable housing, create job-training programs, improve schools, expand public services, and increase neighborhood safety.

In clear and accessible prose, Mark Warren argues that the key to revitalizing democracy lies in connecting politics to community institutions and the values that sustain them. By doing so, the IAF network builds an organized, multiracial constituency with the power to advance desperately needed social policies. While Americans are most aware of the religious right, Warren documents the growth of progressive faith-based politics in America. He offers a realistic yet hopeful account of how this rising trend can transform the lives of people in our most troubled neighborhoods. Drawing upon six years of original fieldwork,Dry Bones Rattlingproposes new answers to the problems of American democracy, community life, race relations, and the urban crisis.

Mark R. Warrenis Associate Professor in the School of Education at Harvard University. Warren has produced something unusual in democratic theory: a masterful combination of theory and observation that is original, readable, and important. It deserves a spot on the shelf of every student of democracy. Warren has done . . . a great service wlÃP