A Promised Land: Lessons for Community Organising at Multiple Levels

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to review Barack Obama’s memoir, A Promised Land, from the perspective of community organising, racism and social change, and draw implications for social work education and practice. By using the theme and content analysis method, it selects relevant chunks from the memoir and reflects on it. The analysis and reflection bring out Barack Obama’s knowledge, skills and approaches of community organising and social change. It argues that in addition to his own virtues and character, the basic premises and approaches of Obama’s community organising are similar to the values, knowledge and agenda of professional social work. Further, it suggests drawing lessons from Obama’s community organising experiences and exploring the potential for social work to expand at multiple levels of macro practice.