Interviews and Articles
Are You Building Something?
Stanford Social Innovation Review
February 13th, 2025
An interview with Marshall Ganz on what the social sector gets wrong about power and structural change
Activist and Author of People, Power, Change, Professor Marshall Ganz
The Great Battlefield
November 22nd, 2024
Marshall Ganz joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about his career in politics and academia, starting in the civil rights movement, then with The United Farm Workers and at Harvard. His new book is "People, Power, Change: Organizing for Democratic Renewal".
AI and Practicing Democracy
Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
November 20th, 2024
As a part of the Allen Lab’s Political Economy of AI Essay Collection, Emily S Lin and Marshall Ganz call on us to reckon with how humans create, exercise, and structure power, in hopes of meeting our current technological moment in a way that aligns with our values.
How to Build a Culture of Organizing: A Conversation with Marshall Ganz
Nonprofit Quarterly Review, Steve Dubb
November 19th, 2024
Truth to Power is a regular series of conversations with writers about the promises and pitfalls of movements for social justice. From the roots of racial capitalism to the psychic toll of poverty, from resource wars to popular uprisings, the interviews in this column focus on how to write about the myriad causes of oppression and the organized desire for a better world.
Will Trump Teach Us to Care about Democracy Again?
The Walrus
November 19th, 2024
Organizing is now the only way forward.
Political Organizer Marshall Ganz On How Democrats’ Ground Game Failed Harris
KQED San Francisco
November 18th, 2024
In the 1960s and ‘70s, political organizer Marshall Ganz worked with Cesar Chavez and the farmworker rights movement. He also worked on campaigns with Nancy Pelosi, Jerry Brown and others. Scott talks with Ganz, whose new book “People Power Change: Organizing for Democratic Renewal” comes at a time when Democrats are finding themselves without clear leadership.
Democrats had a far superior ground game. Why didn’t it matter?
San Francisco Chronicle
November 14th, 2024
Interview with Joe Garofoli of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Politics, mobilization, and political force with Marshall Ganz
Turn on the Lights with Don Berwick
November 11th, 2024
What happens when we reduce people to mere data points in a world driven by economic values?
In this episode, Marshall Ganz, the Rita T. Hauser Senior Lecturer in Leadership, Organizing, and Civil Society at the Harvard Kennedy School, discusses how health care and other systems risk dehumanization by reducing people to data points, driven by economic values rather than human complexity. He argues that real power is relational, emerging through interdependence and that social movements succeed by focusing on people-based power instead of wealth or authority. Social movements, he explains, are more than protests; they require sustained practices, relationship-building, and a commitment to values transformation to create a lasting impact. Reflecting on his experiences with Cesar Chavez, Marshall underscores the need for moral, accountable institutions and emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and practical engagement in driving change. His new book, People, Power, Change, champions hope as essential, believing in the possibility of meaningful outcomes even amid uncertainty.
Olivia Chow and Marshall Ganz speak at 34th democracy forum
The Eyeopener, James Novo
October 29th, 2024
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) hosted its 34th democracy forum on Friday with Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Harvard professor of leadership, organizing and civil society Marshall Ganz.
How to Practice Democracy When There Isn’t Any
Capital and Maine, Kelly Candaele
October 21st, 2024
Marshall Ganz says lessons from 1960s organizing can apply to returning economic and political power to citizens from the oligarchs now in control.
Heads without bodies: Marshall Ganz on the problems of modern organizing
Maine Beacon
September 20th, 2024
Marshall Ganz, America’s pre-emeninent expert on grassroots organizing, sits down with Ben Chin on the podcast this week to discuss how to build organizing skills, build a movement, and create lasting change.
Episode 1: Leadership, Organizing, and Action
Building State Capacity Podcast
September 25th, 2024
In this 6-part podcast series, Marshall Ganz walks you through the five key practices of people, power, and change. Each podcast episode provides practical strategies to learn the leadership and organizing craft.
To Beat Trump, Harris Should Talk About Harris
In These Times
August 31st, 2024
It is a way to share who they are, reminding us of who we are, and why we must choose to act now—a story of self, a story of us, and a story of now. And this year, the outcome of the election could well depend on whether Kamala Harris can tell us this story.
American democracy needs an organizing renaissance
The.Ink
August 30th, 2024
Marshall Ganz on the art and science of changing minds and building power.
In Print: Faculty Books
HKS Magazine
June 1st, 2024
Books by Richard Zeckhauser, Robert Lawrence, Archon Fung, Danielle Allen, and Marshall Ganz.
The Art of Organizing
Say More with Tulaine Montgomery
May 1st, 2024
Organizing people seems easier in the digital age, right? Just send out a blast email or create a Facebook group. My guest today, Marshall Ganz, believes to achieve real social change, we need to do much more than that. For him, the art of organizing involves sharing our unique stories and connecting at a unifying, human level.
Calling for Respect, Freedom, and Security for All Is Not Antisemitic
The Nation
February 1st, 2024
My obligation to critique the Israeli state comes from my own Jewish tradition, a tradition which had to defend itself from genuine antisemitism
Amite County Newsletter
Syndic Literary Journal
April 25th, 1965
From the archives of the Amite County Newsletter, a piece written by Professor Ganz during his time organizing in Mississippi.
‘What is compelling to do right now?’
Harvard Gazette
September 26th, 2023
That question led Marshall Ganz to a calling instead of a career — from Civil Rights, labor, and political organizer to scholar and mentor.
How Olivia Chow's organizing prowess helped propel her into the mayor's office
CBC News
July 3rd, 2023
Chow studied under Harvard professor, organizer who helped Barack Obama win presidency
Olivia Chow a utilisé les méthodes d’un organisateur de Barack Obama
ICI Toronto
July 3rd, 2023
An interview with the new mayor of Toronto on how she is using Professor Ganz's organzing practices.
Hallar fuentes de esperanza, fundamental para tomar riesgos y votar: Marshall Ganz
December 31st, 2022
An interview from Professor Ganz's recent book tour in Mexico with La Jornada on finding sources of hope in organizing.
Community organizing and the pedagogy of practice: Marshall Ganz on the “Let Me Keep My Childhood” campaign
November 21, 2022
How can community leadership spark social change?
Fighting for Freedom: A Discussion with Ramy Shaath and Celine Lebrun
Professor Ganz interviews Mr. Ramy Shaath and Ms. Céline Lebrun-Shaath. A prominent Palestinian-Egyptian political activist, Ramy Shaath has fought for decades in the Egyptian and Palestinian political scenes on human rights causes. Céline Lebrun-Shaath, is a community organizer and political activist.
Ignacio Ibarzábal, de Argentinos por la Educación, y el libro que da claves para organizar las demandas sociales
PATRICIO ZUNINI
August 5, 2022
Ruminating with Marshall Ganz
JONATHAN ATLER
April 15th, 2022
About Freedom Summer, working with Cesar Chavez and the power of organizing.
The Power of Storytelling
GLOBAL ACADEMY MEDIA
June 4th, 2021
Can stories of fear and hope inspire change?
What’s America’s Purpose?
May 1, 2020
EPISODE 2: AMERICA’S MAESTRO OF ORGANIZING, MARSHALL GANZ
This interview is with “America’s Maestro of Organizing”, renowned agent of social change, Marshall Ganz. Marshall’s early work as a Freedom Rider in the 1960s led to his helping Caesar Chavez accelerate the farm worker movement in the 1970s and then ultimately to his groundbreaking work to empower citizens in political campaigns, including the historic 2008 campaign to elect Barak Obama. Hear Marshall’s take on America’s Purpose and how each of us can help advance it through citizen actions in our local neighborhoods and beyond. Building on ancient wisdom and American ideals informed and intertwined with his years of on-the-ground experience, Marshall has a powerful and inspiring message for all of us.
The Public Morality Radio Show, WSNC
BYRON WILLIAMS
March 2, 2020
The Public Morality Radio Show is a weekly broadcast on WSNC Radio 90.5 in Winston-Salem, NC.
Faces of Change Podcasts with Marshall Ganz
LEADING CHANGE NETWORK
March 1, 2020
The legacy of the 2010s
THE HARVARD GAZETTE
Dec. 23, 2019
Adiós, 2010s. The 2020s are here. But before the clock strikes midnight on the decade, the Gazette asked Harvard experts to weigh in on the biggest events and most important cultural shifts of the past 10 years.
Lessons Learned from a 28 Year Leave of Absence
HARVARD CRIMSON
Mach 1, 2019
The presence of Marshall L. Ganz ’64-’92 at Harvard is largely defined by his time away. Even today, Ganz is flying from Boston to Parkland, Fla. to conduct a workshop about community organizing strategies. This is the sort of work that Ganz has been doing his whole life — a life that has blurred the bounds of people and place, and a life that has centered around active civic engagement and scholarship.
Long Road to Change
BBC RADIO 4
April 11, 2017
In an age when technology has made organising protest movements easier than ever before, journalist Zoe Williams asks why we aren’t seeing long-term results. She looks back on the global history of activism to discover the pre-conditions needed for concrete change. Marshall Ganz considers whether social media can work with traditional methods of protesting.
Can The Democrats Get Organized? An Interview With Marshall Ganz
TALKING POINTS MEMO
Feb. 24, 2017
Mantener viva la protesta social: Marshall Ganz
BOSTON FOR AYOTZINAPA
Dec.16, 2014
Marshall Ganz on Organizing and Mobilization
HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL
March 26, 2014
What’s the Story?
THE DRUCKER INSTITUTE
July 12, 2013
In this episode of “Drucker on the Dial,” Phalana Tiller talks with Marshall Ganz about the role that stories and storytelling can have in driving behavior change at both the organizational and societal levels.
How People Power Generates Change
MOYERS & COMPANY
May 10, 2013
Activists Marshall Ganz, Rachel LaForest and Madeline Janis share how organized people can successfully fight organized money.
Marshall Ganz on Making Social Movements Matter
MOYERS & COMPANY
May 10, 2013
Veteran activist and organizer Marshall Ganz joins Bill to discuss the power of social movements to effect meaningful change.
Q&A on the Moral Urgency of Occupy Wall Street
MATT BIEBER
Nov. 5, 2012
Analysis of the Occupy Wallstreet Protests
CHARLIE ROSE SHOW
Oct. 19, 2011
Analysis of the Occupy Wall Street Protests with Paul Krugman of ‘The New York Times,’ Jared Bernstein of CNBC, protester Bill Buster & Marshall Ganz of the Kennedy School at Harvard University
Profiles In Leadership: Marshall Ganz
INSTITUTE FOR HEALTHCARE IMPROVEMENT: OPEN SCHOOL FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS
Aug. 19, 2011
Marshall Ganz: When did you start thinking of yourself as a leader?
IHI OPEN SCHOOL FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS
March 17, 2011
This video is part of Profiles in Leadership, a series of interviews with leaders in fields such as health care, community organizing, international development, and homelessness prevention.
A Conversation With Marshall Ganz
SASHA ABRAMSKY
Feb. 3, 2011
Occupy as a Movement
THE CALLIE CROSSLEY SHOW, WGBH BOSTON
Oct. 24, 2010
October 24, 2011 – The Callie Crossley Show on WGBH Radio Boston.
Labor Organizer Marshall Ganz
BARACKOBAMA.COM
Jan 29, 2008
Interview with Labor Organizer, Marshall Ganz.
Enviros need to get social, says activist-turned-sociologist Marshall Ganz
GREGORY DICUM/GRIST
Dec. 3, 2005
Marshall Ganz: Volver a creer otra vez*
FOLIOS PUBLICACION DE DISCUSION ANALYSIS
¿Obama hubiera ganado la elección sin el movimiento ciudadano que impulsó su candidatura? ¿Por qué el modelo de la campaña de Obama representó una nueva forma de hacer política? ¿Cuáles son las lecciones que otras democracias deberían aprender de la campaña del primer presidente negro? Éstas son algunas de las preguntas que el libro Obama latino, de Wilbert Torre, a través de una brillante crónica, no carente de juicio crítico, intenta dar respuesta.