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This article is an analysis of the history and redevelopment activities of the three largest Community Development Corporations serving Mexican-American neighborhoods. Its focus is the relationship between grassroots political activism, urban economic development strategies, and free-market processes in inner-city neighborhoods. It is argued that the low levels of political and economic support CDCs have received over the years have eroded their ability to reverse the economic decline of their respective target areas.

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This paper examines the political activities of the Industrial Area's Foundation (IAF) network in Texas. Two major research questions are addressed. The first is whether or not the political program of the IAF can empower the Mexican-American community and influence the policy-making process. The second is whether or not their efforts can have a lasting impact on the social and economic problems that plague the Mexican-American population. The evidence put forth reveals that the IAF network has been successful in mobilizing the Mexican-American com- munity and has established a significant record of political vitories. Despite these gains, however, there is reason to doubt the network's ability to counter larger structural problems facing minority communities such as poverty and unemployment. Questions concerning the future of the IAF's style of neighborhood politics are raised in the context of their political ideology, goals, alliances and the difficulties encountered when organizing the poor. Copyright 1989 by The Policy Studies Organization.