Incentives to Organize

At the basic level, people may wish to organize in order to deal with their survival needs, to acquire the means to function effectively in the larger society, and to handle problems encountered in the process. Individuals may also wish to join together in order to take advantage of the potential benefit to themselves and others in the collectivity. Or they may seek to gain control over resources and decision making in one or another domain of activity.

The immigrant condition, which involves a special status and set of problems, cultural differences, and frequently a linguistic barrier, can lead to community organization. People come together for social interaction, mutual support, exchange of information, or simply in order not to feel lost in the new environment. The number of individuals in such a situation may be sufficiently large to allow for the formation of associations. Organized solidarity among immigrants is based primarily, but not exclusively, on the need to adjust to an unfamiliar milieu. The communal structure that emerges to cope with this problem may be referred to as adaptive. Issues of adaptation can remain beyond the first generation, but they are especially severe for the immigrant. Initially, adaptation may mean simply surviving in the new environment, but it eventually has to do with enhancing the social, economic, or political status of the collectivity. Organized activity may be directed to raising the educational attainment of the group, expanding job opportunities, improving housing conditions, increasing political efficacy, or ameliorating the group’s public image.

Another impetus to organize is the sense of a common identity and the desire to keep alive the cultural (including religious) heritage of the group and transmit it to the next generation. In such cases, community organization can be said to emerge for expressive purposes. This factor may lead to a high degree of institutional completeness, as with some groups in rural areas, but it can also result in the formation of specialized organizations, such as churches or religious associations.

The experience of prejudice and discrimination and of a more or less systematic exclusion from jobs and other resources may result in organization for defensive purposes. The objective here is protection against various forms of hostility and the promotion of civil rights. The pursuit of a common cause may also lead to the formation of community organizations. This goal can be political, such as promoting the labour movement, fighting against communism, or defending the political interests of the country of origin, or the cause may be a religious or moral one. Generally, this type of impetus to organize can be referred to as ideological.

Organization may also be a response to opportunities for pursuing the interests of a sub-group in the community or of the community as a whole. Events, situations, policies, and programs of the larger society may be seen as opportunities because they correspond to the interests of certain sub-groups or the collectivity as a whole. Such occasions for advancement may present themselves in any field of activity. An event, whether international, national, or local, can provide the chance to draw attention to the collectivity and its problems or improve its public image. Opportunities may occur in relation to jobs, school programs, government policies and programs, the statements of politicians or other public figures, museum exhibits, art and entertainment, or the mass media. Perhaps the most important area of opportunity for organization and action on an ethnic basis in recent decades has been the array of policies and programs established by all levels of governments and other public institutions, including school systems. Access to resources can be increased by organizing on an ethnic basis in order to influence these institutions and acquire the jobs, political clout, funds, recognition, and status that their policies and programs make available. Finally, people may seek to organize in order to gain control of an opportunity or some aspect of it. In this case, the motive is to influence the decision-making process and the allocation of resources in various domains of activity – political, economic, cultural, social, welfare, athletic, or religious. The group wishes to have a decisive impact on the policy agenda itself, that is, on the selection of issues to be dealt with, the choice of appropriate strategies, and the appointments to positions considered significant in a particular domain.