Agendas
COMING TOGETHER: At the core of a great social movement is the promise of reconciliation. Victory is never enough; after change, people must come together in a new civic order. (12/28/21)
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REVOLUTION? Insurgency is more prevalent now than ever. But almost always, grassroots struggles get absorbed in mainstream politics. (1/9/22)
UP FOR GRABS: The American system has been dislodged. So who’s going to get control and shape it in their image? (2/23/22)
Alternative institutions
SANCTUARY: The ages-old practice of using sacred spaces to protect people has found dramatically different expression in Texas and California. (2/22/22)
SEPARATION ANXIETY: Taking over the government in Shasta County, activists create a model for like-minded separatists. (2/14/22)
Big S- Strategy
THE ‘WHOLE’ APPROACH: Rhetoric scholar Jennifer Mercieca argues that we need a full-court press to save democracy. (5/16/22)
Culture and activism
THE ART OF ACTIVISM: Images orient people to their cause and the challenges of their time. (2/2/22)
CULTURE EATS STRATEGY FOR LUNCH: That’s the saying in business. It also applies to social movements, as climate crisis activists should note. (1/31/22)
MULTICULTI: Ultimately, activism requires people coming together from all backgrounds, from the ground up. (1/26/22)
Demonstrations
‘THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE PEACEABLY TO ASSEMBLE’: Or not. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs bill against protests in front of people’s homes, whether or not they’re peaceful, respectful, and nonviolent. (5/17/22) Also: WaPo is all for it.
HOME PROTESTS: Activists should be allowed to demonstrate in front of public officials’ homes. But the real question is: Does it make sense? (5/24/22) Also: Michigan’s attorney general has faced protesters outside her home; it’s no picnic, she says, but that’s fine.
Direct action
ONLY PRESSURE WILL WORK: We know the policies we need to address the global pandemic. But the political systems across the world won’t do it. Unless, that is, we apply mass pressure. (1/7/22)
THE POWER OF DIRECT ACTION: Is it the only way to force action on the climate crisis? (12/2/21)
Disobedience
JUSTIFYING CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE: Is it OK to break the law when the fate of the earth hangs in the balance? (4/12/22)
PSYCHOLOGY AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE: Professional association explores the sticky situations when counselors should deliberately violate the law for larger ethical concerns. (2/22/22)
THE CHANGING SHAPE OF DISOBEDIENCE: Defiance of law and authority is essential to force action on the climate crisis. But this ain’t your daddy’s civil disobedience. (12/29/21)
IT’S DISOBEDIENCE TIME: A new Yale survey finds a growing appetite for civil disobedience to force action on the climate crisis. (1/26/22)
Faith
L.A. STORY: Activism and faith are inseparable in the City of Angels. (2/11/22)
Free speech
STICK TO THE BOOKS, LADY: Minneapolis principal loses her job after walking the walk on disobedience. (5/23/22)
Government
POLICY AND ACTIVISM: No movement captures activism’s power to force policy reform more than the student loan forgiveness cause. (5/2/22)
LET FIFTY MOVEMENTS BLOOM: Basic rights may depend on what happens in statehouses across the nation. (5/3/22)
THE ETERNAL DEBATE: Should activists stay on the outside raising hell or embed themselves in the Democratic Party? (1/25/22)
WHY VINDMAN MATTERS: If activists and small-d democrats are to have a chance—and if the nation is to avoid authoritarianism—the government needs to protect legitimate whistleblowers. (2/2/22) Plus: the backstory.
REDRAWING MAPS: We’re not talking about redistricting and gerrymandering. After decades of academic chin-scratching, activists on the right and left are moving to reinvent the states. (2/2/22)
Grassroots
YOUTH RISES UP: As it should. The nascent labor uprising comes from the energy of young people marginalized by gig economies and the fake promises of their elders. (5/9/22) Also: Organizing workers in the South—maybe more than at any time since Operation Dixie.
THE POWER OF VOICE: A decade after the Occupy movement, open, small-d democratic conversation might be its greatest legacy. (9/17/21)
HOLLYWOOD TO THE STREETS: Since Trump, the movie biz has entered the fray on a wide range of issues, from racism to the climate crisis. (8/6/21)
History
PROHIBITION AND LIBERTY: Banning booze did not restrict freedom but enhanced it, according to advocates who made a distinction between political and economy liberty. (1/18/22)
TENACITY: Real change takes decades and burns out a lot of souls along the way. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich offers some tips on how to stay the course. (1/10/22)
Ideas
RESEARCH ALERT: The database giant ProQuest announces the merger of its Black Studies platform with newspapers, archival collections and journals. (2/14/22)
DEFENDING FOUCAULT: According to people who have never read him, Michel Foucault is responsible woke discourse—the ideas that “nothing is true, all truth is power and all claims to truth are oppressive.” Nothing could be further from the truth. (1/27/22)
REVIVING A CLASSIC: George Lakey updates his classic A Manual for Direct Action (7/28/22)
Law
MUZZLING JOURNALISTS = MUZZLING ACTIVISTS: Arrests of reporters at demonstrations is a dangerous trend for democracy, says the Committee to Protect Journalists. (10/7/21)
CRIMINALIZING PROTEST? Activists seek release of protesters, claiming they were targeted for legitimate political activity. (1/2/22)
Mainstream Politics and Parties
A THIRD WAY: Failed presidential candidate Andrew Yang joins disaffected Republicans and Democrats to create a third party. can it work?(7/27/22)
Leadership
WHAT WOULD JESUS SAY? When it comes to sainthood, sometimes it hurts to follow the teachings of Jesus. Thoughts on the case of Dorothy Day. (1/21/22)
LEARN FROM THE MASTER: James Lawson, one of the legends of the civil rights movement, offers a free online course on nonviolence and social movements. To jump in, go here. (ND)
REMEMBERING A MAN OF PEACE: With his practice of “engaged Buddhism,” Thich Nhat Hanh inspired countless human rights and peace advocates around the world. Martin Luther King was just one of his friends and allies. (1/21/22)
Online
#HAMPERED BY HASHTAGS: Rapid mobilization through social media undercuts the necessary work of organizing. (2/23/22)
THE POTENTIAL AND LIMITS OF CLICKTIVISM: Can online organizing provide a strong foundation for street-level movements? (1/7/22)
WHEN ONLINE ACTIVISM WORKS: Lessons from the campaign to block facial recognition. (2/9/22)
Organizing
VERTICAL SCHMERTICAL. We need shift beyond the horizontal/vertical paradigm for understanding movements and structures. (1/30/22)
‘THE IRON LAW OF OLIGARCHY’: USAID shows the inevitable (?) distortion of liberal reform efforts: When bureaucracies take charge, they take care of their own. (1/8/22)
BEATING THE NRA: How do activists defeat the gun lobby? Organize, organize, organize. Inspired by the 1980s group Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a women-led movement now has more followers than the NRA. (2/22)
BANNON’S RIGHT: The only way to build a national movement is to build countless local movements. (1/9/22)
FORCING CHANGE: Reform happens with struggle, never from the goodness of the hearts of the powerful. Take the case of Sweden. (1/17/22)
Propaganda
MANUFACTURING CONSENT: From Edward Bernays onward, the scientific suppression of democracy.
Refusal
PUSHED TOO FAR: Pilots walk off the job to protest their treatment in the COVID era. (3/11/22)
Resources
MONEY OR PEOPLE: Those are the only two political resources, Saul Alinsky used to say. Too many Democrats choose money rather than organizing people. (2/14/22)
HELP NEEDED: Activists have never been able to succeed on their own. Foundations gave a boost to the civil rights movement. Will they do the same with this generation of black activists? (2/23/22)
A PLACE OF ACTIVISM’S OWN: To develop ideas and strategy, activists need to get away from the madness of everyday life. (2/10/22)
MONEY PIT? The danger of raising gobs of money in a decentralized, leaderless movement: Lots of it disappears. A case study of BLM. (1/31/22)
Sacrifice
★ THE POLITICS OF SELF-SACRIFICE: Is self-immolation for a cause activism or madness? The debate ensues after a man burns himself to death to protest climate crisis. (4/26/22) See also this.
Strategy
★ THE ONE-TWO PUNCH: Activism has always thrived when combined with litigation. That will be the key to the climate crisis too. (4/21/22) Another case in point: trans activism.
GOING BIG: To address threats to voting rights, corporate capture of government, climate crisis, wage stagnation, health care, and more will require investing $1 billion for activism, says Ralph Nader. (1/10/22)
THINKING BIG: Global politics has always embraced the idea of “grand strategy.” Activism? Not so much. But that’s the key to real change. (12/16/21)
REMOTE CONTROL: Americans want to play their civic role, but not directly, according to a survey of the impact of the pandemic on politics. (4/19/22) Also: Workplace activism is growing.
SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF: Actually, fighting and winning races for local offices is not “small” at all. It’s the very fiber of democracy. Leave it to your enemies and … (1/9/22) Also see this related piece on Steve Bannon’s local war strategy.
Training
A PLACE OF ACTIVISM’S OWN: To develop ideas and strategy, activists need to get away from the madness of everyday life. (2/10/22)
Violence/Nonviolence
JUSTIFIABLE DESTRUCTION? Is it ever OK to destroy property for a righteous cause? A British court ruled in favor of Palestinian activists who defaced an Israeli drones facility. (12/8/21)
THE CASE FOR VIOLENCE: A new book argues that an extreme crisis requires an extreme response. (5/26/21)