The Activists' Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Participatory Democracy

329 Pages·2012·4.1 MB·English

by  Aidan Ricketts

About the author
Aidan Ricketts is an experienced social and environmental
activist as well as a prominent activism educator, academic and
writer. Aidan has written for many academic journals and
contributed to several books. He is also a lecturer with the
School of Law and Justice at Southern Cross University,
Lismore, Australia.

The Activists’ Handbook: A step-by-step guide to participatory democracy was first published in
2012 by Zed Books Ltd, 7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, UK and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10010, USA www.zedbooks.co.uk
Copyright © Aidan Ricketts 2012
The right of Aidan Ricketts to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
The illustrations were drawn by Kudra Falla
Set in FFKievit and Monotype Plantin by Ewan Smith, London
Index: [email protected]
Cover designed by Rogue Four Design All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of Zed Books Ltd.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress
Cataloging in Publication Data available ISBN: 9781780324135
CONTENTS
List of figures
Introduction: cycles within cycles
1 Activism, advocacy and the practice of democracy
2 Building successful social movements
3 Strategy: the art of activism
4 Planning and mapping your campaign: practical tools and processes
5 Media, publicity and research
Public sector activism: how to change the law and influence
6
government policy
7 Corporate activism
8 Direct action, protest and your rights
9 Digital activism
10 Strategic litigation
11 Social change and conflict resolution
Empowerment and personal sustainability: staying active and
12
avoiding burnout
References
Index
FIGURES
2.1 The eight stages of social movements
3.1 Timelines map
3.2 Integrated strategy map
4.1 The Murdoch Rag
4.2 Campaign questions grid
4.3 Overall objectives and immediate goals
4.4 Overall objectives and immediate goals (SOF)
4.5 Corpvale strategic plan
4.6 Full strategic plan
4.7 Generic strategic plan
4.8 Power-holder map
4.9 Corpvale research planning grid
4.10 Friends and foes map
4.11 Generic friends and foes map
4.12 Timelines map
5.1 The strategic research cycle
5.2 Plan your presentation
5.3 The format for a media release
5.4 Example of a press release
6.1 Some national models
6.2 A presidential system
6.3 The Westminster system
6.4 Changing the law and influencing government policy
7.1 The feedback loop of effective corporate campaigning
9.1 Sample e-mail alert
9.2 A simple phone pyramid
9.3 Example of campaign plan with digital media tools/tactics included
11.1 Conflict map
12.1 The making of a lifelong activist
12.2 Strategic interaction of formal and less formal campaign groups
12.3 Affinity group decision-making
Introduction: cycles within cycles
Recently I provided a community activism consultancy for a group of
residents threatened by the rising sea-level on Australia’s east coast. It was
different from my usual line of work; these were not environmentalists
fighting some new damaging development, or local residents busting
political corruption. This was a group of property owners, threatened by
erosion and frustrated at the government’s lack of compassion for their
community’s predicament. Most of these people had never been activists
before; they had previously enjoyed a quiet life by the sea until the tide of
history (and the tide itself) shocked them out of the complacent belief that
the government could be relied upon to take care of their interests. Some
of my activist colleagues queried why I was helping this group of people,
whose concerns seemed largely proprietary and only partly
communitarian in nature. While I was helping map their campaign, one of
the residents also asked me, ‘What is your interest in coming here and
helping us? Why are you doing this?’ It was as if he suspected I had
another another motive. After explaining that I was actually receiving a
small fee, I went on to explain the real reason why I was there.
I believe in real democracy, and I believe in the power of communities
to organize to pursue their interests, and I am passionate about helping
people take a stand and make a difference in the world.
To many of my activist colleagues, and even to many of the residents
themselves, the issue looked like just another NIMBY (not in my
backyard) issue, but to me it was so much more. This little community
was faced with the loss of their homes owing to climate change; they were
a test case for how society and government would respond to the impact
of climate change, and more importantly they provided a human face to an
issue which to many people had so far only been an abstract
environmental problem.
I sincerely believe that when people wake one day to find an issue on
their doorstep that they cannot just ignore, there is enormous potential for
transformation. This is why I am supportive of many groups that others
may label as NIMBY. What is important in all community campaigns is
the potential to overcome passivity and unleash empowerment. My social
change work has shown me time and again that when individuals first
break the habit of political passivity they begin a journey from being a
passive subject to an active citizen and beyond to being a lifelong activist.
Taking a stand on a local issue, or even taking a small stand on a big
global issue, may seem like a small step, but for so many people it
unleashes a power that lies dormant in us all. In this book I discuss the life
cycle of social movements, but underlying this is the life cycle of activists
themselves.
When a person first takes a stand on an issue, they are transformed.
The people around them start to see them differently; their neighbours and
colleagues may see them as a potential leader, their opponents as a threat.
Soon enough their first ordeal of awakening occurs, most often when they
are attacked publicly for having dared to stand up. Possibly for the first
time in their lives they encounter first-hand the stubbornness, lies,
hypocrisy and embedded corruption that reinforce the vested interests they
have dared to oppose or question. This is a critical stage for people; they
may become despondent and defeated. But more often there is a great
dissonance that ignites a fire in the belly far deeper and more powerful
than the small issue that first awakened them; they begin to feel the need
to make changes in the world around them, to change the values, attitudes
and world views that caused the problems in the first place. From a
NIMBY a much grander social change activist is frequently born.
There is also a tertiary stage in the life cycle of an activist, something
like the metamorphosis of a larva to an adult insect, capable of
multiplying its own kind many times over. This metaphor begins to
explain why I have written this book.
After working long and hard on a campaign, and particularly after
achieving success, we may ask: What next? Should I simply retire from
the field and take all my experience and knowledge with me? Or should I
choose another campaign and throw myself into it with the same passion
and energy? Or is there a more effective path?
For me, the answer was obvious; as an educator, educational designer
and experienced activist, the best contribution I could make for the future
was to become an activism educator. I realized that as an activist I could
really only work on one campaign at a time, but if I could help train up
other activists then hundreds, possibly thousands, of campaigns might
benefit. This in itself caused me to realize that my own world view had
expanded remarkably, and instead of being issue-focused I had become
focused upon the process of social change and participatory democracy