How to Create an "Ecology of Change" by Combining Movement Uprisings With Long-Term Organizing

[marmar]

How to Create an "Ecology of Change" by Combining Movement Uprisings With Long-Term Organizing

Sunday, 01 May 2016 00:00
By Mark Karlin, Truthout | Interview



[font size="1"]Transformational change attempts to achieve long-term social, political and economic change through combining acts of resistance and movement-building. (Photo: niXerKG / Flickr)[/font]


In this interview, Mark and Paul Engler, authors of This Is an Uprising, examine the strategy differences between traditional schools of organizing and mass mobilizations. They argue that each plays an important role in creating social change and should be used in conjunction to be most effective in reaching a shared goal.

Mark Karlin: How do you define momentum-driven organizing? What makes it distinctive from a general media perception that acts of resistance and disruption are only spontaneous and short-term?

Mark and Paul Engler: Every once in a while, we see outbreaks of mass protests that capture the public spotlight -- whether it's millions of immigrants taking to the streets 10 years ago this spring, or huge student demonstrations in Quebec or Chile, or an occupation on Wall Street that spreads to hundreds of other cities and town. Media [are] almost always caught off guard by these types of mobilizations. Reporters label them "emotional" and "spontaneous." But the argument of our book is that there is actually a craft to uprising. If we study the playbook of strategic nonviolence, we can see that there are important principles and tactics that guide successful mobilizations. What we call "momentum-driven organizing" is a way of approaching mass protest in a deliberate and strategic manner -- consciously seeking to spark, nurture and sustain periods of mass defiance, and also figuring out ways that these can complement other efforts to create social change.

There is an amazing body of knowledge about civil resistance that has emerged over the past 50 years. We want to make more people aware of this field of study. And we want to show people the incredible potential that exists if we apply it to some of the social and political challenges we are facing right now in the United States.

It's not just media, however, that look at many actions of revolt as "failed" if they do not make immediate change. Many progressives share this perspective. What is your response to supporters of social justice who dismiss acts of resistance as courageous but failed?

A lot of people who are trained in traditional schools of community organizing or in the labor movement are focused on the power of building up organizations for the long haul. Because mass mobilizations don't fit very well within their organizing model, there can be a lot of skepticism -- and even hostility -- when mass protests erupt. If you start to dig deep into social movement history, you see that this tension that has emerged again and again throughout the decades. And yet, grassroots forces have been most effective when they have harnessed both the power of organization and the power of widespread defiance. By shedding light on how these different organizing traditions help to create change in different ways, we hope to break down some of that hostility and to encourage more creative thinking about how "movements" and "organizations" can work together.

Because mass mobilizations can burst dramatically on to the scene, but then fade out and seemingly disappear within a short period of time, they are often dismissed as flukes that do not have a long-term impact. Some organizers think that, in any case, these outbreaks cannot be relied upon. And yet, history shows that moments of mass protest can be critical in changing the political landscape and provoking major reforms. Instead of dismissing these things out of hand because we are unfamiliar with how they work, our book argues that we need to study them more carefully and learn how to tap their power. ..............(more)

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/35862-how-to-create-an-ecology-of-change-by-combining-movement-uprisings-with-long-term-organizing

[Chan790]

1. I keep trying to tell people it's about a united fight for justice.

I support all social justice movements, whether they benefit me or not (including some that are in my own worst interests), because I expect unquestioned unilateral support in return.

Before God, man, or country...I expect reciprocity. It's not unreasonable. That's how you build a grand coalition for social justice and economic justice.