In the context of community organizing, which outcome is best associated with the contest strategy?

The contest strategy in community organizing fundamentally revolves around engaging in a struggle over resources, power, and decision-making, particularly when there are conflicting interests between different groups or organizations. This strategy acknowledges that communities often involve various stakeholders with diverse, and sometimes opposing, interests.

By focusing on the adjustment of power dynamics, the contest strategy seeks to mobilize groups or individuals to advocate for change by challenging the existing power structures that may be perpetuating inequalities or injustices. The outcome of this approach is typically a reconfiguration of how power is distributed within the community, allowing for marginalized voices to gain a platform and influence over decisions that affect their lives.

While mutual agreement, continuous collaboration, and improvements in service provision can all be important aspects of community work, they do not specifically characterize the contest strategy. Instead, these outcomes might align more closely with cooperative strategies that emphasize consensus-building and collaboration, rather than the competitive nature of the contest strategy, which focuses on confrontation and reshaping power relations.