Community service provision as a 'radicalizing' force

In a letter to the editor last week, David Tannenbaum incorrectly asserts that involvement in service provision cannot change society in a systematic way. Many activists who focus on advocacy mistakenly characterize service provision as piecemeal "Band-Aid" work that only alleviates existing problems and contrast it to preventative activist work aimed to eliminate the causes of such problems.

In both service provision and advocacy, a distinction should be made between projects that "do for" others, by providing handouts without efforts to address the sources of needs or by lobbying for reforms without actively seeking the advice and support of those most affected by the policies, and projects that "do with" others by targeting resources and energy to empower others to lobby on their own behalf. Truly democratic change involves building partnerships with others through the complementary and mutually supportive work of volunteering and lobbying.

Tannenbaum is correct in noting that there is power in numbers and that legislation can have incredibly far-reaching effects. What he ignores, however, is that community-based service organizations provide resources that facilitate broader participation in collective political actions and are on the front lines of policy implementation and evaluation.

Every week, Princeton students work with local community-based organizations, like ISLES, Martin House and the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, that build the skills of community members to deploy their resources on behalf of their common interests.

Those who volunteer as tutors or go on to work as teachers can develop the mental, manual and social skills of children, helping to create resourceful and independent thinkers able to critically evaluate their environments. In addition, community service can be a radicalizing force that increases political participation: evaluations of service-learning programs show that by volunteering in their communities, students are more likely to recognize their worth and efficacy, to see themselves in the context of community and society and to value working with others as a means of enhancing their lives and environments.

Volunteering in community projects and participating in lobbying activities are complementary activist methods that are often most effective in combination, as demonstrated by the Freedom Schools of the 1960s. Both service provision and lobbying are essential components of political movement-building, as both promoting a sense of empowerment and pushing for government action are crucial to any grassroots, democratic campaign for social justice.