I’m an anthropologist doing my PhD on activism and organizing. I’ve also been an organizer myself for over a decade, primarily focusing on drug policy, but also coalition-building between different groups of people impacted by capitalism (aka, the entire working class). Right now, more than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, people are ready for change and hungry to take action. So my goal is to facilitate transferring knowledge and experience from seasoned activists to newer ones, so people don’t have to learn lessons the hard way, and we can be as effective as possible in transitioning to a world that isn’t shitty. So here’s what I’ve found so far about what actually works, and what doesn’t.

What works:

• Building community by making people feel welcome. This is the first and most important step. People won’t trust you if they think you don’t care about them or aren’t actually listening to their needs. Prove to them you care about them first, and create spaces where they feel welcomed, included, listened to and valued.
  • “[A woman in the group] really started to encourage me and welcome me, like, ‘hey, you’re good at this, you understand what you’re talking about and have passion. Would you consider joining the board and being more involved?'” – a Canadian activist I interviewed on why she got involved with a group
• Leveraging labour power – it’s all we’ve got. Unionize and strike.
• Targeted, specific, strategic goals.
• Creating coalitions based on bonds of trust and support.
• Balancing learning with praxis.
• Understanding intersectionality.
• Seeing all struggles as interconnected.
• Being kind to people and hard on systems. (E.g., it’s not “men” that are the problem, it’s patriarchal masculinity. People can and do break free of the systems & programming that are causing them to harm others.)
• Practicing hope as a discipline. It’s an action, it’s something you practice, not a feeling.

What doesn’t often work:

• Using shame (especially on working class people) – I can’t stress this one enough. You were disciplined using shame in your childhood – how did that make you feel? How do you wish you were treated instead? Probably with patience, kindness, love and clear boundaries. Start treating others, and yourself, that way.
• Begging politicians – they don’t care. They only respond to leverage.
• Spending all your time reading theory.
• Arguing with strangers online.
• Dehumanizing others (including people who you disagree with, even people who dehumanize you. This is very hard, but it’s essential).
• Playing oppression olympics rather than looking for the overlaps in our struggles.
• Nihilism, especially when you tell others there’s nothing we can do – every time you do that, Jeff Bezos smiles and pours himself another glass of adrenochrome.
• Relying on saviours, politicians, or anyone with power.

This is not a complete list by any means, just a bit of what’s come out of my own organizing experience and my research (working with & interviewing dozens of seasoned activists). I’m (agonizingly, painstakingly) writing a whole dissertation about it, but I want to start posting tidbits like this on my blog like I used to!

Feel free to leave a comment and discuss with your friends and comrades, and remember:

• We’re in this together, and we’re all we have. Be kind.
• Focus on what actually works, not what you wish worked. Interrogate whether an approach is based in hate and catharsis, or love and care with a clear-minded appraisal of a situation. What evidence do you have that a certain tactic is effective? What else could be tried? What feels good in your body to do?

For more information and resources, poke around this list! Or just go straight for the best resource by reading the book Let This Radicalize You by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes.

The work I do to put together resources like this and organize in my community takes a lot of time and energy, and I do it for free in my limited spare time as a grad student and mother of two small children. If you are grateful for my work and want to support me making more of it, your help is deeply appreciated and will go to feeding myself and my two little kids:

💲 Send money on PayPal
🍼 Send my baby some diapers (or me some books)
❤️ Support me on Patreon

I love you. Stay strong. Act always from care, not hate. Spend your energy wisely. Model the world you want to see ❤️