What's on top?
If this is your first tCA enews, welcome! It's heartening to know that so many people share our passion for creating a learning culture within social movements. Working for change can be overwhelming and many of us fall into unhealthy, non-strategic traps and habits. Constantly responding and reacting, without necessarily taking the time to reflect, rest or recover.
These bulletins are a modest intervention to encourage healthy activist habits; to support social movements to learn... constantly. Since 2005, we've shared links to resources and learning opportunities. The update is crowd-sourced. We rely on and welcome your suggestions!
The 'Building Power' subject line for this month's enews is deliberately provocative. The expression so often refers to political work that can be measured in hours or days - the day-to-day mobilising efforts integral to modern campaigning. But in this context, the expression refers to forms of power that must be measured over a longer time frame. Years, decades or generations.
During our first workshop in this year's Community Organising Fellowship, Joan Staples shared reflections on 40 years as a social and environmental justice activist in Australia. This was a revelation for many. Over the years, Joan has observed profound changes in what it means to organise, campaign or advocate. Joan's anecdotes and analyses lifted the hood on dramatic changes in the power dynamics between the state, market and civil society, and underscored the importance of a long-term perspective.
This month's enews features links to resources that encourage that longer-term perspective and approach. The forms of power essential to assert and uphold environmental justice require us to learn so much more than a handful of online organising tools and tricks. These tools help create important moments, but let's not forget that this work is life long and that power is more than social media reach or turning people out to our next event.
