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3 - Now Would Be a Great Time to Raise Your Voice

Empowerment as a Critical Community Psychology Concept

from Part I - Foundational Concepts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2021

By
Kip Thompson  and
Alexis M. Benjamin
Edited by
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Affiliation:
Long Island University, New York
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Summary

This chapter explores the nature of empowerment and how individuals harness this resource to effect change in local, national, and global settings. We start by examining four examples of empowerment in context and how history developed these ideas into social movements. Next, the construct of power is defined, and the reader is exposed to various instruments that powerful individuals often use to effect change. Specific methods for empowerment are detailed, followed by multicultural perspectives and examples in empowerment. The chapter concludes with suggestions for the reader on how they might develop their own social movements.

Keywords

Empowermentsocial mediacommunity organizingmulticulturalism
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Community Psychology
Interdisciplinary and Contextual Perspectives
 , pp. 48 - 69
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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