Activism Inc discussed in "Crooked Timber"

A blog discussion on (Activism, Inc. by Dana Fisher ) how progressive groups contract out their political canvassing.  This discussion that follows covers different sides of the debate--do all progressive groups outsource their campaigning?  Does it include environmental advocacy AND  political campaigns? Are there any groups that use a combination of local and outsourced staff (like ACORN)? Another comment makes the point that like right-wing organizations, some progressive groups are tapping into local faith-based networks as well.  Read the discussion here.

Comments

[Brennan Griffin]

Just for clarification, ACORN doesn't outsource any canvassing activities that I'm aware of. Our organizers go door-to-door, but they are full-time employees with benefits, and their job is not just to get people to join, but to get people actively involved in their communities.

There are offices that have a canvas operation supplementing the main work, but its all in house, and often canvassers who do their jobs well get hired on as full-time community organizers in fairly short order.