Download or read book How Organizations Develop Activists written by Hahrie Han and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why are some civic associations better than others at getting-and keeping-people involved in activism? Using in-person observations, surveys, and field experiments, this book compares and describes contemporary models for engaging activists to show the effectiveness of one that combine political activism with transformative personal and collective growth.
Download or read book Prisms of the People written by Hahrie Han and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2021-07-12 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grassroots organizing and collective action have always been fundamental to American democracy but have been burgeoning since the 2016 election, as people struggle to make their voices heard in this moment of societal upheaval. Unfortunately much of that action has not had the kind of impact participants might want, especially among movements representing the poor and marginalized who often have the most at stake when it comes to rights and equality. Yet, some instances of collective action have succeeded. What’s the difference between a movement that wins victories for its constituents, and one that fails? What are the factors that make collective action powerful? Prisms of the People addresses those questions and more. Using data from six movement organizations—including a coalition that organized a 104-day protest in Phoenix in 2010 and another that helped restore voting rights to the formerly incarcerated in Virginia—Hahrie Han, Elizabeth McKenna, and Michelle Oyakawa show that the power of successful movements most often is rooted in their ability to act as “prisms of the people,” turning participation into political power just as prisms transform white light into rainbows. Understanding the organizational design choices that shape the people, their leaders, and their strategies can help us understand how grassroots groups achieve their goals. Linking strong scholarship to a deep understanding of the needs and outlook of activists, Prisms of the People is the perfect book for our moment—for understanding what’s happening and propelling it forward.
Download or read book Democracy in the Making written by Kathleen M. Blee and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2012-03-30 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Democracy in the Making, Kathleen M. Blee provides an in-depth look at modern grassroots activism, and reveals its simultaneous power and fragility. In the process, she examines the struggle between democratic vision and strategic reality that shapes each organization's trajectory and determines its ultimate success or failure.
Download or read book Moved to Action written by Hahrie Han and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2009-08-17 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book examines how the underprivileged become motivated to participate in politics even though they lack the educational, financial, and civic resources commonly assumed to be necessary for participation.
Download or read book Emergent Strategy written by adrienne maree brown and published by AK Press. This book was released on 2017-03-20 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of Octavia Butler, here is radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help to shape the futures we want. Change is constant. The world, our bodies, and our minds are in a constant state of flux. They are a stream of ever-mutating, emergent patterns. Rather than steel ourselves against such change, Emergent Strategy teaches us to map and assess the swirling structures and to read them as they happen, all the better to shape that which ultimately shapes us, personally and politically. A resolutely materialist spirituality based equally on science and science fiction: a wild feminist and afro-futurist ride! adrienne maree brown, co-editor of Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements, is a social justice facilitator, healer, and doula living in Detroit.
Download or read book Creative Community Organizing written by Si Kahn and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This book was released on 2010-02-15 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Privatization has been on the right-wing agenda for years. Health care, schools, Social Security, public lands, the military, prisons-all are considered fair game. Through stories, analysis, impassioned argument-even song lyrics-Si Kahn and Elizabeth Minnich show that corporations are, by their very nature, unable to fulfill effectively what have traditionally been the responsibilities of government. They make a powerful case that the market is not the measure of all things, and that a vital public sector is an indispensable component of a healthy democracy.
Download or read book Stir It Up written by Rinku Sen and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2003-08-16 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stir It Up--written by renowned activist and trainer RinkuSen--identifies the key priorities and strategies that can helpadvance the mission of any social change group. This groundbreakingbook addresses the unique challenges and opportunities the newglobal economy poses for activist groups and provides concreteguidance for community organizations of all orientations. Sponsored by the Ms. Foundation, Stir It Up draws onlessons learned from Sen's groundbreaking work with women's groupsorganizing for economic justice. Throughout the book, Sen walksreaders through the steps of building and mobilizing a constituencyand implementing key strategies that can effect social change. Thebook is filled with illustrative case studies that highlight bestorganizing practices in action and each chapter contains tools thatcan help groups tailor Sen's model for their own organizationalneeds. Stir It Up will show your organization how to: Design and conduct actions that further campaign goals Develop effective leaders Build strong alliances and networks Generate and use solid research Design an effective media strategy Put in place a plan for internal political education andconsciousness-raising With the information, tools, and suggestions outlined in thisbook your organization can use your "good idea" to change theworld.
Download or read book Everyone Leads written by Paul Schmitz and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-11-09 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a proven leadership model, Everybody Leads shows how leadership can be found in uncommon places and reveals how to inspire and cultivate the leadership of those focused on social change. It shows how to take responsibility to work with developing leaders to make a difference and outlines the five key leadership values. Sponsored by Public Allies, the book helps leaders to connect across cultures, facilitate collaborative action, recognize and mobilize all of a community's assets, continuously learn, and be accountable to those they work with and those they serve. Register at www.josseybass.com/emailfor more information on our publications, authors, and to receive special offers.
Download or read book When We Fight We Win written by Greg Jobin-Leeds and published by New Press, The. This book was released on 2016-01-05 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Real stories of hard-fought battles for social change, told by those on the front lines—with clear lessons and tips for activists on gaining power from the ground up “As protests and demonstrations sprout across the land, young organizers and activists need to know why and how movements are sustained and how they grow. That resource has arrived.” —Mumia Abu-Jamal, author and activist In this visually rich and deeply inspiring book, the leaders of some of the most successful movements of the past decade—from the legalization of same-sex marriage to the Black Lives Matter movement—distill their wisdom, sharing lessons of what makes transformative social change possible. Longtime social activist Greg Jobin-Leeds joins forces with AgitArte, a collective of artists and organizers, to capture the stories, philosophy, tactics, and art of today’s leading social movements. When We Fight, We Win! weaves together interviews with today’s most successful activists and artists from across the country and beyond—including Patrisse Cullors, Bill McKibben, Clayton Thomas-Muller, Karen Lewis, Favianna Rodriguez, Rea Carey, and Gaby Pacheco, among others—with narrative recountings of their inspiring strategies and campaigns alongside full-color photos. It includes a foreword by Rinku Sen and an afterword by Antonia Darder. The recent nationwide explosion of protests has shown the power the people have when we join together with a common goal and compelling message. When We Fight, We Win! will give a whole generation of readers the road map to building resilient movements that can achieve real social justice.
Download or read book Towards Collective Liberation written by Chris Crass and published by PM Press. This book was released on 2013-05-01 with total page 535 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy is for activists engaging with dynamic questions of how to create and support effective movements for visionary systemic change. Chris Crass’s collection of essays and interviews presents us with powerful lessons for transformative organizing through offering a firsthand look at the challenges and the opportunities of anti-racist work in white communities, feminist work with men, and bringing women of color feminism into the heart of social movements. Drawing on two decades of personal activist experience and case studies of anti-racist social justice organizations, Crass insightfully explores ways of transforming divisions of race, class, and gender into catalysts for powerful vision, strategy, and movement building in the United States today. Over the last two decades, activists in the United States have been experimenting with new politics and organizational approaches that stem from a fusion of radical political traditions and liberation struggles. Drawing inspiration from women of color feminism, justice struggles in communities of color, anarchist and socialist movements, the broad upsurges of the 1960s and 70s, and social movements in the Global South, a new generation of activists has sought to understand the past while building a movement for today’s world. Towards Collective Liberation contributes to this project by examining two primary dynamic trends in these efforts: the anarchist movement of the 1990s and 2000s, through which tens of thousands of activists were introduced to radical politics, direct action organizing, democratic decision making, and the profound challenges of taking on systems of oppression, privilege, and power in society at large and in the movement itself; and white anti-racist organizing efforts from the 2000s to the present as part of a larger strategy to build broad-based, effective multiracial movements in the United States. Crass’s collection begins with an overview of the anarchist tradition as it relates to contemporary activism and an in-depth look at Food Not Bombs, one of the leading anarchist groups in the revitalized radical Left in the 1990s. The second and third sections of the book combine stories and lessons from Crass’s experiences of working as an anti-racist and feminist organizer, combining insights from the Civil Rights Movement, women of color feminism, and anarchism to address questions of leadership, organization building, and revolutionary strategy. In section four, Crass discusses how contemporary organizations have responded to the need for white activists to lead anti-racist efforts in white communities and how these efforts have contributed to multiracial alliances in building a broad-based movement for collective liberation. Offering rich case studies of successful organizing, and grounded, thoughtful key lessons for movement building, Toward Collective Liberation is a must-read for anyone working for a better world.
Download or read book The Young Activist s Guide to Building a Green Movement and Changing the World written by Sharon J. Smith and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2011-02-22 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you want to make a significant and sustainable impact on the health of our planet, this powerful and practical guide can help. Author and activist Sharon J. Smith shares proven strategies and lessons learned from the winners of Earth Island Institute’s Brower Youth Awards—America’s top honor for young green leaders. Here are all the tools you need—from planning a campaign and recruiting supporters to raising money and attracting media attention—to turn your ideas into actions and make changes that matter. All author proceeds from the sale of this book go to Earth Island Institute’s Brower Youth Awards to support the next generation of young activists.
Download or read book Diminished Democracy written by Theda Skocpol and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2013-06-14 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pundits and social observers have voiced alarm each year as fewer Americans involve themselves in voluntary groups that meet regularly. Thousands of nonprofit groups have been launched in recent times, but most are run by professionals who lobby Congress or deliver social services to clients. What will happen to U.S. democracy if participatory groups and social movements wither, while civic involvement becomes one more occupation rather than every citizens right and duty? In Diminished Democracy, Theda Skocpol shows that this decline in public involvement has not always been the case in this countryand how, by understanding the causes of this change, we might reverse it.
Download or read book Beautiful Trouble written by Andrew Boyd and published by OR Books. This book was released on 2013-05-01 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Banksy, the Yes Men, Gandhi, Starhawk: the accumulated wisdom of decades of creative protest is now in the hands of the next generation of change-makers, thanks to Beautiful Trouble. Sophisticated enough for veteran activists, accessible enough for newbies, this compact pocket edition of the bestselling Beautiful Trouble is a book that’s both handy and inexpensive. Showcasing the synergies between artistic imagination and shrewd political strategy, this generously illustrated volume can easily be slipped into your pocket as you head out to the streets. This is for everyone who longs for a more beautiful, more just, more livable world – and wants to know how to get there. Includes a new introduction by the editors. Contributors include: Celia Alario • Andy Bichlbaum • Nadine Bloch • L. M. Bogad • Mike Bonnano • Andrew Boyd • Kevin Buckland • Doyle Canning • Samantha Corbin • Stephen Duncombe • Simon Enoch • Janice Fine • Lisa Fithian • Arun Gupta • Sarah Jaffe • John Jordan • Stephen Lerner • Zack Malitz • Nancy L. Mancias • Dave Oswald Mitchell • Tracey Mitchell • Mark Read • Patrick Reinsborough • Joshua Kahn Russell • Nathan Schneider • John Sellers • Matthew Skomarovsky • Jonathan Matthew Smucker • Starhawk • Eric Stoner • Harsha Walia
Download or read book The Revolution That Wasn t written by Jen Schradie and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-01 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This surprising study of online political mobilization shows that money and organizational sophistication influence politics online as much as off, and casts doubt on the democratizing power of digital activism. The internet has been hailed as a leveling force that is reshaping activism. From the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, digital activism seemed cheap, fast, and open to all. Now this celebratory narrative finds itself competing with an increasingly sinister story as platforms like Facebook and Twitter—once the darlings of digital democracy—are on the defensive for their role in promoting fake news. While hashtag activism captures headlines, conservative digital activism is proving more effective on the ground. In this sharp-eyed and counterintuitive study, Jen Schradie shows how the web has become another weapon in the arsenal of the powerful. She zeroes in on workers’ rights advocacy in North Carolina and finds a case study with broad implications. North Carolina’s hard-right turn in the early 2010s should have alerted political analysts to the web’s antidemocratic potential: amid booming online organizing, one of the country’s most closely contested states elected the most conservative government in North Carolina’s history. The Revolution That Wasn’t identifies the reasons behind this previously undiagnosed digital-activism gap. Large hierarchical political organizations with professional staff can amplify their digital impact, while horizontally organized volunteer groups tend to be less effective at translating online goodwill into meaningful action. Not only does technology fail to level the playing field, it tilts it further, so that only the most sophisticated and well-funded players can compete.
Download or read book Roots to Power written by Lee Staples and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2016-02-22 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The third edition of the manual for community organizers tells readers how to most effectively implement community action for social change, clearly laying out grassroots organizing principles, methods, and best practices. Written for those who want to improve their own lives or the lives of others, this thoroughly revised how-to manual presents techniques groups can use to organize successfully in pursuit of their dreams. The book combines time-tested, universal principles and methods with cutting-edge material addressing new opportunities and challenges. It covers basic concepts and best practices and offers step-by-step guidelines on things an organizer needs to know, such as how to identify issues, formulate strategies, set goals, recruit participants, and much more. The work focuses on six organizing arenas: turf/geography, failth-based, issue, identity, shared experience, and work-related. It offers new or expanded material addressing community development, use of social media, internal organizational dynamics, electoral organizing, evaluation/assessment, and prevention of burnout for key leaders. There are also nuts-and-bolts articles by experts who address topics such as action research, lobbying, legal tactics, and grassroots fundraising. Numerous case examples, charts, worksheets, and small group exercises enrich the discussion and bring the material to life.
Download or read book Another Politics written by Chris Dixon and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amidst war, economic meltdown, and ecological crisis, a "new spirit of radicalism is blooming" from New York to Cairo, according to Chris Dixon. In Another Politics, he examines the trajectory of efforts that contributed to the radicalism of Occupy Wall Street and other recent movement upsurges. Drawing on voices of leading organizers across the United States and Canada, he delivers an engaging presentation of the histories and principles that shape many contemporary struggles. Dixon outlines the work of activists aligned with anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist, and anti-oppression politics and discusses the lessons they are learning in their efforts to create social transformation. The book explores solutions to the key challenge for today’s activists, organizers, fighters, and dreamers: building a substantive link between the work of "against," which fights ruling institutions, and the work of "beyond," which develops liberatory alternatives.
Download or read book Social Movements written by Paul Almeida and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 2019-02-26 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social Movements cleverly translates the art of collective action and mobilization by excluded groups to facilitate understanding social change from below. Students learn the core components of social movements, the theory and methods used to study them, and the conditions under which they can lead to political and social transformation. This fully class-tested book is the first to be organized along the lines of the major subfields of social movement scholarship—framing, movement emergence, recruitment, and outcomes—to provide comprehensive coverage in a single core text. Features include: use of real data collected in the U.S. and around the world the emphasis on student learning outcomes case studies that bring social movements to life examples of cultural repertoires used by movements (flyers, pamphlets, event data on activist websites, illustrations by activist musicians) to mobilize a group topics such as immigrant rights, transnational movement for climate justice, Women's Marches, Fight for $15, Occupy Wall Street, Gun Violence, Black Lives Matter, and the mobilization of popular movements in the global South on issues of authoritarian rule and neoliberalism With this book, students deepen their understanding of movement dynamics, methods of investigation, and dominant theoretical perspectives, all while being challenged to consider their own place in relation to social movements.
