Why David Sometimes Wins: Leadership, Organization, and Strategy in the California Farm Worker Movement

Unfortunately, Ganz's book reads all too much like the Ph.D. dissertation from which it sprung. Lots of footnotes to theoretical works and a continuous effort to place the events of the early UFW days into analytical constructs. What is missing is the sort of inside tales of the early days of the farmworker movement that Ganz could share with readers. Unfortunately, there is precious little revealed regarding the strategic decisions of the UFW and the day-to-day challenges faced by the organizers. Heck, Ganz ran a number of the organizing sites himself but tells us next to nothing about the obstacles he and the other organizers faced. The first few chapters, summarizing California farm labor organizing efforts prior to the UFW are largely an effort by Ganz to place these efforts in his analytical framework - there is little original research and one feels that the historical presentation may have been molded to fit Ganz's theory. Frankly, there are plenty of books on organizing techniques and theories and Ganz offers nothing really new in this regard. Sadly, his book omits what could have been his unique contribution to the literature: an intimate portrait of the internal decision-making and strategic planning by Chavez and the other organizers during the UFW's heyday.

This book was required reading for a work conference of Community organizers. We were fortunate enought to have Marshall Ganz speak at our event. This is an important part of this country's history, but as we learned from Mr Ganz this issue is nowhere near being solved, by the book did ofer hope and showed the value of the "little" people working together to improve their quality of life

Ganz did a great job on the early UFW.

Required reading for public policy graduate program. Great book that I continue to refer back to (and I've been out of grad school for 4 years now). It's been incredibly helpful in formulating public outreach plans in my job.

I purchased this book as a new copy and it did come in perfect condition. It wasn't an amazing value, but appropriately priced.

It's densely packed with information, but is basically unreadable and therefore useless.

A very engaging and informative documenting of one of the most important unionizing and civil rights movements of our time. Ganz's personal history and involvement make this an extraordinary scholarly analysis of effective organizing. A must read for all grass roots organizers and activist. This book puts many human faces on organizing and civil rights.

A good read