As an old-timer/mediator/conflict resolution consultant working with newer activists I really resonate with the wisdom in this article. I would add one additional piece of advice that tends to hang activists up IMO: how to hold the tension between those in a group who are more (1) task-focused and (2) those who are more process-focused. In my experience these two approaches are not mutually exclusive, they are complementary. It helps a lot to think of working toward a task as the ***manifest** activity and realize at the same time that the relationship-building and trust-building activities that lay under the surface of this work (the **latent** activity) is just as important. Always remaining vigilant to process and the way it shapes tasks builds sustainability over the long haul, and builds resilience to shock and conflict. Results-oriented folks would do well to relax a little into the group’s investment in process-making. No issue is so urgent as to bypass this effort.
Thank you for your vital suggestions for organizing. People here oughta share the shit out of this article. The social mvmts for Gaza, LGBTQ, tuition, police + govt accountability won't grow without ideas like these. But most social mvmts don't last. They need teams of organizers and...
socialism has that invaluable tradition (fancy name is "cadre").
You're right: all the socialist groups are tiny. Yet heaps of people are stepping up every day to fight back and they're open to direction. We need to demystify and de-romanticize socialist ideas and history. As Dennis the Peasant says to his comrade in 'Monty Python and The Holy Grail', we really need to bring class into it again--working-class politics--because "that's what it's all about."
I'm not asking the notorious :D Nora Loreto to become a Marx-whisperer. You've been clear: you want to be a writer and journo and researcher and now you're a podcaster and you have a fam and footy and a band. We respect your space.
But is it just me... or do other people notice a snippet of socialist theory or history in every other post or talk or article you post? This observation is not a criticism, JTBC. I, too, yearn for a revitalized Canadian socialism that hosts more than discussion groups or panels or replies on Substack (ahem). I think we need to do Nora and ourselves a solid: get educated about the red thread and get cracking.
So...
Jenny S, anne_nonymous, Ben Cullen and everyone else:
why not join a socialist organization,
learn about ideas for planning, organizing and building winning movements,
then share'em here and at your job, school and on the streets.
Just get started, even. When you've learned enough and the comrades can't help you anymore, you are free to leave.
And BTW you're allowed to START your own socialist group, too!
And BTW you're allowed to START your own socialist group, too!
This was so useful for me to read. As someone who is yearning to break into activist spaces, but currently doesn't belong to any - I feel like I have been wondering for a very long time why I don't have any friends in my social circle who actually align with my politics. It's long made me feel like I don't *really* have any friends at all. I think I've had a sort of naive belief that once I find people who share my politics, that we will just click into place and everything we work and agitate for will be done in concert with our shared values and friendship. I get that it won't happen so neatly.
I also just wonder where the line is - I got into a heated debate about Gaza on my own social media channel with an acquaintance who I did not know held Zionist beliefs until he commented on my post. In the end, his bizarre take on Gaza was too frustrating for me to contend with and so I unfriended him. I don't think this is what Nora is talking about when she essentially says we should hold the tension with other activists whose beliefs don't entirely align with ours - but when is it ok to draw that line? This person said he ultimately wanted peace in Gaza just like I did - and otherwise considers himself a "progressive" person - but touted a lot of Zionist propaganda that did not feel good to me to be around. Don't know if I made the right call or not in unfriending!
Anyway, this was a great read. I'm still learning a lot!
I think that acting like we're on social media when we are on social media is ok. But think about how you might act if you ran into each other on the street?
Oh, Nora. This is not one of the better articles you have done. I have been hearing and reading people giving the same kind of advice for about 50 years.
I long ago gave up on activism and ‘organizing’. I came to the conclusion that it is not a useful or even legitimate activity. Most of the time it is about people who do not believe they can ever really change anything, but are trying to make themselves feel better.
You also ignore one very big factor in any kind of organizing or demonstrating for change. That is, the secret police. If you cannot believe that a secret police is operating in Canada, you need to stay away from any high stakes activity. All you can do is get yourself and others in trouble.
This activism nonsense fills up the space where real democracy should be. To use an example; you do not go out ‘demonstrating’ for more public transit. It is not your decision to make.
You organize to put a trusteeship in charge of public transit, get the politicians out of it. You force this by shutting down all transportation until you are complied with. This requires real organizational ability.
It is also going to get the core leaders attacked, possibly killed, likely sent to jail for some time, if they cannot effectively defend themselves. If this is too big for you, you need to find something else to do.
You can go and do some sort of low stakes activity, but as I said, I do not think that is a legitimate activity. When we have a democracy, people will be chosen randomly to validate decisions about how things will work. People trying to appoint themselves as deciders will be discouraged.
Citizen councils will not operate by debates. No one wants to listen to debates because it is a useless and obnoxious activity. Serious decision making is done through dialogue.
I know from experience that most activist types are incapable of real, dialectic dialogue.
It isn't to be glib, it's to be realistic about the kind of risk people should expect. Of course there is always risk in doing a public action, but being part of mass demonstrations is lower stakes than, say, occupying someone's office. I also think that the campus situation is somewhat particular, as campus leadership cracks down more on protest (and in that everything about organizing on campus feels like the highest stakes possible -- it's what makes campus organizing so special)
As an old-timer/mediator/conflict resolution consultant working with newer activists I really resonate with the wisdom in this article. I would add one additional piece of advice that tends to hang activists up IMO: how to hold the tension between those in a group who are more (1) task-focused and (2) those who are more process-focused. In my experience these two approaches are not mutually exclusive, they are complementary. It helps a lot to think of working toward a task as the ***manifest** activity and realize at the same time that the relationship-building and trust-building activities that lay under the surface of this work (the **latent** activity) is just as important. Always remaining vigilant to process and the way it shapes tasks builds sustainability over the long haul, and builds resilience to shock and conflict. Results-oriented folks would do well to relax a little into the group’s investment in process-making. No issue is so urgent as to bypass this effort.
Yes, thanks for this!
Thank you for your vital suggestions for organizing. People here oughta share the shit out of this article. The social mvmts for Gaza, LGBTQ, tuition, police + govt accountability won't grow without ideas like these. But most social mvmts don't last. They need teams of organizers and...
socialism has that invaluable tradition (fancy name is "cadre").
You're right: all the socialist groups are tiny. Yet heaps of people are stepping up every day to fight back and they're open to direction. We need to demystify and de-romanticize socialist ideas and history. As Dennis the Peasant says to his comrade in 'Monty Python and The Holy Grail', we really need to bring class into it again--working-class politics--because "that's what it's all about."
I'm not asking the notorious :D Nora Loreto to become a Marx-whisperer. You've been clear: you want to be a writer and journo and researcher and now you're a podcaster and you have a fam and footy and a band. We respect your space.
But is it just me... or do other people notice a snippet of socialist theory or history in every other post or talk or article you post? This observation is not a criticism, JTBC. I, too, yearn for a revitalized Canadian socialism that hosts more than discussion groups or panels or replies on Substack (ahem). I think we need to do Nora and ourselves a solid: get educated about the red thread and get cracking.
So...
Jenny S, anne_nonymous, Ben Cullen and everyone else:
why not join a socialist organization,
learn about ideas for planning, organizing and building winning movements,
then share'em here and at your job, school and on the streets.
Just get started, even. When you've learned enough and the comrades can't help you anymore, you are free to leave.
And BTW you're allowed to START your own socialist group, too!
And BTW you're allowed to START your own socialist group, too!
This was so useful for me to read. As someone who is yearning to break into activist spaces, but currently doesn't belong to any - I feel like I have been wondering for a very long time why I don't have any friends in my social circle who actually align with my politics. It's long made me feel like I don't *really* have any friends at all. I think I've had a sort of naive belief that once I find people who share my politics, that we will just click into place and everything we work and agitate for will be done in concert with our shared values and friendship. I get that it won't happen so neatly.
I also just wonder where the line is - I got into a heated debate about Gaza on my own social media channel with an acquaintance who I did not know held Zionist beliefs until he commented on my post. In the end, his bizarre take on Gaza was too frustrating for me to contend with and so I unfriended him. I don't think this is what Nora is talking about when she essentially says we should hold the tension with other activists whose beliefs don't entirely align with ours - but when is it ok to draw that line? This person said he ultimately wanted peace in Gaza just like I did - and otherwise considers himself a "progressive" person - but touted a lot of Zionist propaganda that did not feel good to me to be around. Don't know if I made the right call or not in unfriending!
Anyway, this was a great read. I'm still learning a lot!
I think that acting like we're on social media when we are on social media is ok. But think about how you might act if you ran into each other on the street?
Thanks for sharing this hard-won wisdom. So many places where these points apply, now more than ever.
I pointed my readers to this article, referencing a specific problem that happened in an Autistic social group.
https://r.flora.ca/p/navigating-conflict-in-autistic-spaces
Thank you!
Oh, Nora. This is not one of the better articles you have done. I have been hearing and reading people giving the same kind of advice for about 50 years.
I long ago gave up on activism and ‘organizing’. I came to the conclusion that it is not a useful or even legitimate activity. Most of the time it is about people who do not believe they can ever really change anything, but are trying to make themselves feel better.
You also ignore one very big factor in any kind of organizing or demonstrating for change. That is, the secret police. If you cannot believe that a secret police is operating in Canada, you need to stay away from any high stakes activity. All you can do is get yourself and others in trouble.
This activism nonsense fills up the space where real democracy should be. To use an example; you do not go out ‘demonstrating’ for more public transit. It is not your decision to make.
You organize to put a trusteeship in charge of public transit, get the politicians out of it. You force this by shutting down all transportation until you are complied with. This requires real organizational ability.
It is also going to get the core leaders attacked, possibly killed, likely sent to jail for some time, if they cannot effectively defend themselves. If this is too big for you, you need to find something else to do.
You can go and do some sort of low stakes activity, but as I said, I do not think that is a legitimate activity. When we have a democracy, people will be chosen randomly to validate decisions about how things will work. People trying to appoint themselves as deciders will be discouraged.
Citizen councils will not operate by debates. No one wants to listen to debates because it is a useless and obnoxious activity. Serious decision making is done through dialogue.
I know from experience that most activist types are incapable of real, dialectic dialogue.
I understand that, especially in the paragraph on understanding the stakes, you're speaking of Canada but even then i think the assertion that if the action is "a public demonstration of support for Gaza? Then its low stakes and the level of internal trust and agreement matters less" is a little glib given the current context (ask Sara Kishawi https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/viu-student-files-court-petition-to-overturn-suspension-for-pro-palestinian-activism-10684188)
It isn't to be glib, it's to be realistic about the kind of risk people should expect. Of course there is always risk in doing a public action, but being part of mass demonstrations is lower stakes than, say, occupying someone's office. I also think that the campus situation is somewhat particular, as campus leadership cracks down more on protest (and in that everything about organizing on campus feels like the highest stakes possible -- it's what makes campus organizing so special)