From Consumption to Production

Abstract

The authors examine the response of labor-community organizations in local economic development policy decisions. Case studies of labor-community organizations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Hartford, Connecticut, are presented to support the authors' conclusion that grass-roots participation can lead to development policies that reflect working-class interests. Further, the organization in Pittsburgh has been active in creating a national-level organization to assist other places in developing similar responses. Accordingly, the authors suggest that such movements cannot be judged exclusively in terms of their immediate gains but must also be evaluated in terms of the extent to which the strategies developed promote conditions for future progressive social change.