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Community Corner

"Democracy Is Not A Spectator Sport": Arthur Blaustein Speaks

Arthur Blaustein has taught Community Development and Public Policy in UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design since 1984. He will speak on his new book, Democracy is Not a Spectator Sport.

He was previously director of the National Economic Development and Law Center. During his 14-year tenure the center helped establish over 450 community development corporations (CDC's) throughout the nation. Most were urban but many were rural and on Native American reservations. In addition to providing hands-on policy and planning assistance, Blaustein wrote enabling federal and state legislation and formulated a comprehensive strategy for the community economic development movement.

In 1977 President Carter appointed Blaustein to be Chairman of the National Advisory Council on Economic Opportunity, which recommended to the president and Congress policies and programs related to social policy, community and economic development and anti-poverty strategies. In 1997, President Clinton appointed him to the board of the National Endowment for the Humanities for a six-year term. The committee that Professor Blaustein served on had the responsibility for grants for libraries, universities, museums, NPR and PBS.

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Blaustein has written extensively for magazines and newspaper syndications, including Harper's, Saturday Review, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Los Angeles Times and Knight-Ridder, as well as for academic and professional journals.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington CA 94707

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