Educational theory has tended to avoid discussions of how the less powerful might come together to contest oppression. Yet strategies for collective action are learned practices, like any others. While there are no "rules" for social action, different traditions provide useful "rules of thumb." This article lays out some core theoretical assumptions of one tradition of social struggle: the "neoAlinsky" model within the broader tradition of local community organizing. These, of course, are ideals--the actual "sausage making" of social action often diverges quite significantly from them. The author concludes by discussing possibilities and limitations for drawing on this theory in educational settings.