Title Ghosts of organizations past : communities of organizations as settings for change / Dan Ryan

Published Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 2015

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Description 1 online resource Contents Preface; Acknowledgments; Part I. From Opportunity to Disaster (and Back Again); 1. The Ghosts of Organizations Past; Part II. Disaster and Opportunity; 2. From Disaster to Opportunity; 3. From Opportunity to Disaster; Part III. Communities and Organizations; 4. What Kind of Thing Is Community?; 5. What Kind of Thing Is an Organization?; 6. Doing Things with Organizations in Communities; Part IV. Organizing Organizations; 7. Doing Things with Organizations: The Cost of Organizational Diversity; 8. Doing Things with Organizations: The Cost of System 9. Networks of Garbage Cans: The Amplification of Irrationality10. Networks and Calendar Noise; Part V. Social Organizational Junkyards; 11. Community as Organizational Junkyard; 12. Why Can't Organizations Be Like Us?; Bibliography; Index Summary In Ghosts of Organizations Past, Dan Ryan asks, "Why are urban communities such hard places to implement community improvement programs?" Looking at New Haven, Connecticut, and a now-defunct program called Fighting Back, which was created to build community coalitions against the abuse of alcohol and other drugs, Ryan shows how the normal properties of organizations generate apparent pathologies. He shows how the "ghosts," or artifacts, of past organizations, both inhibited and enhanced Fighting Back's chances of success. Ryan draws on concepts from the study of organizations, social capital, and social networks to re-think questions such as "What kind of thing is a community?" and "Why is it so difficult to build community initiatives out of organizations?" He provides a social organizational explanation for problems familiar to anyone who has been involved in community programs, issues that are usually understood as personal incompetence, turf wars, greed, or corruption. Ghosts of Organizations Past describes the challenges of using organizations to create change in places in dire need of it Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record Subject Community organization -- Connecticut -- New Haven -- Case studies Substance abuse -- Connecticut -- New Haven -- Prevention -- Case studies Community development -- Connecticut -- New Haven -- Case studies Sociology, Urban -- Connecticut -- New Haven -- Case studies SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Sociology -- Urban. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- City Planning & Urban Development. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- General. Community development Community organization Sociology, Urban Substance abuse -- Prevention Connecticut -- New Haven Genre/Form Case studies Form Electronic book ISBN 9781439912560 1439912564

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