This book is about ways that people can build and exercise power to influence the systems that affect their lives. Each chapter provides a deep examination of a different approach. This introductory chapter begins with a discussion on definitions of empowerment and then lays out five perspectives that orient the contributions in the book. It then describes the structure and contents of the book, which are organized into six parts: (1) organizing and activism, (2) participatory governance, (3) civil society and coalitions, (4) enterprise, (5) participatory and community arts, and (6) education and engaged research. This is followed by reflections on the book’s scope and potential uses by different audiences.

Community-engaged research (CEnR) has moved from the fringes to the mainstream of academic research, particularly that which orients to goals of social, racial, and health equity. The construct of empowerment, which encompasses interconnected processes at the level of the individual, the organization, and the community, can be used to understand the mechanisms by which CEnR may contribute to improvements in equity and justice. This chapter introduces and describes a conceptual model for empowerment in CEnR that synthesizes ideas and empirical advances from community psychology and public health. We use the model to examine the processes by which social power can be built and exercised through CEnR at multiple levels of analysis, suggesting that the power that comes from community-led and grassroots community organizing processes has the greatest significance for equity-based CEnR and ultimately for goals of equity- and justice-focused social change.

Community coalitions promote empowerment by providing pathways for residents and organizations to gain and apply new skills, grow in leadership, and play an active role in calling for and creating community change. Coalitions create synergy through strategic pooling of diverse and complementary perspectives, connections, and resources. This chapter provides a brief overview of coalitions and how they operate as a community change mechanism by providing a structure to create changes in policies, systems, and environments. We present a case study of the California Healthy Cities and Communities initiative in which leaders in twenty communities with underserved or vulnerable populations were empowered to address environmental and structural determinants of community well-being. Next, we review the literature on how coalitions have been studied as a mechanism for community empowerment across disciplines and levels of empowerment. We conclude with recommendations for future research, including a greater focus on equity and understanding community change processes.

In this chapter and the next, I describe and analyze critical analyses of power and domination, starting in the late 1950s with the power research of Floyd Hunter and C. Wright Mills. After these efforts, the problem of social order could no longer be plausibly addressed by reference to community, consensus, or consent to authority. Instead, social order came to look like a structural or systemic effect of power or domination.