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A resource for social workers, instructors, and students in the areas of community organizing, policy analysis and advocacy, and organizational development--a tool in your quest for social justiceFollow Classroom to Capitol
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- I'm particularly excited about #4! brookings.edu/blog/up-front/… 2 years ago
- We need all of these policies--for the middle-class, for redeeming the American Dream, and for our shared future. brookings.edu/blog/up-front/… 2 years ago
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Melinda Lewis
social policy, social work, advocacy, and community organizing analysis and commentary
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All materials on this site, except those explicitly credited to other sources, are the creation and property of Melinda K. Lewis. Visitors to this site are encouraged to use these materials for their advocacy and their own learning, and may share these materials as desired to further the pursuit of social justice. The author only requests that all materials obtained from this site, including presentations, documents, and images, be credited to Melinda K. Lewis, and that others be directed to this site for additional information. No material from this site may be sold or used for any commercial purposes without the express written permission of Melinda K. Lewis.Disclaimer
Melinda Lewis takes full responsibility for the content featured directly on this blog. This site is in no way affiliated with the University of Kansas or its School of Social Welfare. The opinions and commentary contained here are those of the author alone, who makes no claim to speak on behalf of other students, faculty, or administration at the School.networked blogs
Facebook and the Kansas Minimum Wage
My cynical side believes that the increase in the Kansas minimum wage finally passed this year in large part because legislators wanted to appear to do something good for people in poverty in a budget year when they were going to make fairly drastic cuts in social services, education, and health care. After all, relatively few workers earn the state minimum wage, and there was not much strong opposition from organized business interests.
Still, it was a significant success after years of unsuccessful advocacy on this issue, and it’s also significant that the breakthrough came with new strategies for organizing progressive activists. And it suggests that Twitter and Facebook, in particular, hold real promise for reenergizing flagging campaigns, mobilizing supporters to take unprecedented action, and providing the critical difference, in terms of amount and type of advocacy, that can push an issue over the hump. I like the fact that the organizer in this story is clear that social networking applications are only one tool to assist us in accomplishing the core task of any organizing campaign–connecting with people around an issue they care about–but that they can be an innovative and successful part of an advocacy strategy.
If you’ve used Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking tools in your policy advocacy work, please share your story. If you were involved in the campaign to raise the Kansas minimum wage, did you connect via social networking? Did you find those tools helpful?
Facebook and the Minimum Wage
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