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Daniel Hunter. Strategy and Soul: A Campaigner's Tale of Fighting Billionaries, Corrupt Officials, and Philadelphia Casinos. Philadelphia: Daniel Hunter, 2013. ISBN 978-0-9885508-0-3 (Pbk). Pp. 338.
I have found the text for which I have been waiting. I teach nonviolent social change. Each year, I try a variety of ways to make the theory "come alive" for the students. One method I use is to include a book that depicts a nonviolent struggle which we can use as a case study. Having this example allows us to apply the material we are learning to "real life": Does it work? How? What else could have been done, given what we have learnt together? I have tried various books over the years, with more or less success. Strategy and Soul is the most effective by far. Strategy and Soul is a detailed study of a successful community-based campaign to keep casinos from being built in residential neighbourhoods in Philadelphia.
The strengths of this book are many. Author Daniel Hunter is an activist who also truly knows the theory. A graduate of Swarthmore College, Hunter uses his academic background to infuse and support his work. The result is a case study of "thick description," giving an unusual "backstage view" inside a case. It acts as a form of "How To Primer" on multiple topics: Conflict Resolution (such as Positions and Interests 7, 63; Intent/Action/Effect 22, 31; Negotiating 68-70), Organizing (for instance, the "Ask" 5, 24, 128; Ally Spectrum 9, 12, 127; Three-Touch Rule 141-42; Public Myth, Private Truth 19, 53, 80; Pace...