How is a local level democratic organization cultivated so that members, who were previously disenfranchised, are empowered to oppose an oppressive central authority and participate in a revolutionary reconstruction of society? Having spent many years researching this question, Johannes P. Van Vugt applies a model of democratic organization for social change to his findings regarding the way literacy campaigns and Christian Base communities were organized in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Brazil. His study is valuable as an example of a scientific methodology for studying and cultivating democratic organization for social change, and as a clarification of the controversy over the role of specific campaigns and organizations.

Van Vugt approaches his study from an interdisciplinary perspective using a methodology that is qualitative, historical, and comparative. He blends the cultural insights of ethnography with the structural understanding of how ideologies and organizations motivate and mobilize people. His research is based on field studies in Nicaragua; other studies of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Brazil; and theories of democratic organization and social change.

Community based organizations assist participants in developing social skills and familiar language for negotiating and practicing safer, non-risky behaviors. AIDS education and awareness is best achieved in local community groups through the use of interactive group sharing and non-professional language. Supportive and informed mutual aid can be extended through community based organizations and can alleviate the psychological effects of isolation, homophobia, abandonment, and political disinterest created by society at large. AIDS therapy and prevention is best accomplished in settings that encourage one-to-one communication and compassion. The seventeen authors of this masterful compilation of AIDS research and policy make a strong case for community organizations as valiant warriors in one of this century's most threatening epidemics against humanity.