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Know thine enemy
Noam Cohen dissects right wing attacks on town hall meetings – a curious interpretation of Saul Alinsky’s ‘Rules for Radicals’. Republican organizers are adopting Alinsky-style tactics to shut down public meetings organised by public health...
Empowering people not elites: Interview with Saul Alinsky, 1972
In the course of nearly four decades of organizing the poor for radical social action, Alinsky has made many enemies, but he has also won the respect, however grudging, of a disparate array of public figures: French philosopher Jacques Maritain has called him “one of...
Saul Alinsky: Community organizing and rules for radicals
Saul David Alinsky (1909-1972) was both a committed organizer and activist (founding the Industrial Areas Foundation in Chicago) and an influential writer. His books Reveille for Radicals (1946) and Rules for Radicals (1972) were, and remain, important statements...
10 ways to work together: An organizer’s view
Useful tips and perspective from legendary organiser Dave Beckwith, based on his review of articles on the Comm-Org site.
Community toolbox: Learning how to be a community leader
Community leaders take responsibility for the well-being and improvement of their communities. Are you a community leader? Are you interested in becoming one? Community leaders are often self-appointed. Even people who run for office first make a decision that they...
Power from the ground up
Michael Green’s article in The Age (13/12/08) discusses the rise and rise of Australia’s grassroots climate movement, including observations by the Change Agency’s James Whelan.
The fallacy of climate activism
In the 20 years since we climate activists began our work in earnest, the state of the climate has become dramatically worse, and the change is accelerating – this despite all of our best efforts. Clearly something is deeply wrong with this picture…
A win! The Herd listen to climate change activists
Some quick and effective online pressure by climate change activists successfully discouraged popular hip hop band The Herd from inadvertently supporting the coal industry. Go Ellie!
20 principles for successful community organizing
Kahn’s new book, “Creative Community Organizing: a Guide for Rabble-Rousers, Activists and Quiet Lovers of Justice,” is a manifesto for the politically active.
Community action on climate change (Wiki)
There are many forms of political action on climate change including letter writing, direct lobbying, and public shaming of politicians and media organizations. Political action campaigns require building a base of support at local level.
World peoples conference on climate change and the rights of mother earth
We, the peoples and nations of Earth: considering that we are all part of Mother Earth, an indivisible, living community of interrelated and interdependent beings with a common destiny; gratefully acknowledging that Mother Earth is the source of life, nourishment and...
A climate of change toolkit for climate action groups
A useful new collection of resources especially developed for CAGs. Includes resources on advocacy and campaigning, media, networking, event management, and strategies and plans.
How to plan highly effective campaigns
Many people are active organising campaign to achieve social change. But why do some succeed quick while others languish for years? Chris Rose provides tips and examples on how to plan an effective campaign strategy and what needs to be considered.
Would Saul Alinsky break his own rules?
In recent years, Saul Alinsky has become known for of his connections to prominent figures inside Washington, D.C. In the 1980s, Barack Obama cut his political teeth as an organizer in an Alinskyite community organization, an initiative on the South Side of Chicago...
Evaluation for strategic learning: Assessing readiness and results
Evaluation for strategic learning is the use of data and insights from a variety of information-gathering approaches—including evaluation—to inform decision-making about strategy. This approach to evaluation has a specific objective—improving strategy—in the same way...
Meetniq | Activists, get organised
Meetniq is a group-organising tool for grassroots campaigns and community groups. It handles the boring and time-consuming bits of organising a group, so you can get on with the real work. Functions include compiling and distributing agendas, tracking group tasks and...
Loomio: collaborative decision making
Loomio is a fantastic (and free) online collaborative decision-making tool combining discussion and voting.
Meeting Daniel Hunter, author of ‘Strategy and Soul’
Anita Tang writes: “When the chance came to meet Daniel in Sydney and to hear more of his insights from the campaign, I leapt at the opportunity! The book itself is full of lessons, insights, and practical tips on almost every page – far too many to summarise....