Abstract

John Dewey envisioned the "American experiment" of democracy as a moral and ethical ideal, lived out in personal habits and "in our daily walk and conversation."1 More than mere external political forms or institutional arrangements, Deweyan democracy is a "personal way of life."2 Democratic political organizing is typically captured in campaigns focused on single issues, but broad-based community organizing is more closely aligned to Deweyan radical democracy as an ethical way of life. This kind of organizing is "relational organizing" that, as Mark Warren says, brings people "together first to discuss the needs of their community and to find a common ground for action."3 BBCO is first and foremost about...