Eminent Domain Use and Abuse: Kelo in Context
Dwight H. Merriam, Mary Massaron Ross, editors, American Bar Association, 2006, 346 pages, $114.95 (paperback), includes CDrom, ababooks.org

The authors examine the implications of the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London, which addressed the question of when eminent domain may be used to take property for private development. They describe the context within which the post-Kelo debate is taking place, as well as guidance concerning the Kelo decision itself and its applications.

Community Organizing and Development,
Fourth Edition

Herbert J. Rubin and Irene S. Rubin, 2007, Pearson, 480 pages, $78.00 (paperback), www.ablongman.com

This revised and expanded fourth edition of a well-known and widely used text in community organizing and development presents a comprehensive introduction to the variety of approaches that guide social change, social activism and community-building work. The authors link various theories of organizing to the techniques and tactics of practice and illustrate them with examples from real-life practice.

Social Solutions to Poverty: America’s Struggle to Build a Just Society
Scott Myers-Lipton, Paradigm Publishers, 2006, 345 pages, $28.95 (paperback), www.paradigmpublishers.com

The essays in this collection trace the ideas and contributions of citizens, activists, labor leaders, scholars, politicians and governmental agencies that aim at ensuring that American citizens have the basics of food, housing, employment, education and health care. The book also includes documents (speeches, articles and proposals) that illustrate a variety of strategies for combating poverty.

Tax Credits for Low Income Housing: Opportunities for Developers, Non-Profits, Agencies and Communities Under Expanded Tax Code Provisions, 13th Edition – 20th Anniversary Edition

Joseph Guggenheim, Simon Publications, 2006, 442 pages, 54 appendixes, 24 tables, $195.00 (paperback), www.housingtaxcredits.net

A guidebook to the low-income housing tax-credit program first enacted into law 20 years ago, the 13th edition updates and includes descriptions of the policy and program changes, including guidance, rulings and issuances, that have occurred since the publication of the previous edition in 2004.

Design for Ecological Democracy
Randolph T. Hester, MIT Press, 2006, 512 pages, illustrated, $39.95 (hardcover), http://mitpress.mit.edu

In this lavishly illustrated book, the author contends that the process of community-building has been lost in the process of city-building. Hester argues that when the forces of ecology and democracy are combined, a revolution in design will take place. He outlines new principles for urban design that will allow the forging of connections between citizens and the natural environment.

From a Cause to a Style: Modernist Architecture’s Encounter with the American City
Nathan Glazer, Princeton University Press, 2007, 310 pages (paperback), $24.95, www.pup.princeton.edu

In his articles and essays, the author-an eminent sociologist and emeritus professor at Harvard-raises questions about modernist architecture and the larger social aims it was supposed to have addressed, as well as those it has abandoned. The book challenges the reader to face some difficult truths about the public places (such as city parks, memorials, and examples of public artists’ works) that define who we are as a society.

Beginner’s Guide to Community-Based Arts
Keith Knight and Mat Schwarzman, New Village Press, 2006, 200 pages, extensively illustrated, $19.95 (paperback), www.newvillagepress.net

Using a graphic nonfiction format, the authors present a travelogue that visits real artists working to revitalize communities across the country. The book demonstrates the power of art in grassroots social change and lays out specific models of community-based arts programs, including techniques, discussion questions and plentiful resources.