James Whelan’s publications
Edited texts Whelan, J. ed. (2006) Partnership-Based Social Research for Sustainable Natural Resource Management in Queensland, State of Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Water, Brisbane. Monographs Whelan, J. (2012) Big Society and Australia: How...
Critical path analysis [Process guide]
Objectives Inspire positive thinking about the future Shift to focusing on outcomes rather than tactics Outline some threads in the campaign’s stages Learn and practice the process to ‘cut issues’ Provide experience and skill in defining clear objectives Deepen our...
Cutting the issue [process guide]
Objectives Help reduce the scope of campaigns in order to focus efforts on where change can really be achieved.Consider the possible consequences of working on one part of a problem rather than others. Some activist organisations find the idea of ‘cutting the issue’ a...
Dr Richard Yin, Doctors for the Environment Australia 2020
We had the privilege of working with James Whelan and the Change Agency over two days to clarify our understanding of campaigning and advocacy. With over 20 doctors and medical students from varied experiences in advocacy work present and a very complex and full...
Rethinking deliberative governance: dissecting the Queensland landclearing campaign
The remarkable campaign highlights an apparent rupture between the discourses and practices of deliberative governance and adversarial power politics. The orthodox processes of consensus politics were rejected as inadequate by conservationists in favour of a strategic...
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.
climate movement strategy (March 2009)
Towards a movement strategy: reflections on grassroots climate change campaigning James Whelan & the Change Agency collective January 2009 Later this month, hundreds of people involved in grassroots climate action will meet in Canberra to create a national...
Climate action: a campaign manual for greenhouse solutions
“The word academic is synonymous for irrelevant”, declared Saul Alinsky, the influential Chicago activist-educator. A notable exception to Alinsky’s rule is Mark Diesendorf, author of ‘Climate Action: A campaign manual for greenhouse...
Assessing advocacy
Justin Whelan (2006). Extracts from ‘Work Justice’, a case study of the campaign by Uniting Justice to influence Industrial Relations legislation in Australia.
Community action and engagement
James Whelan (2006). Case studies of Maleny and Gold Coast environmental campaigns.
Environmental democracy up for grabs: Crossroads for the Australian environment movement?
James Whelan (2005) A crossroads for the Australian environment movement? Twenty forest activists are being sued by Gunns Ltd, Australia’s biggest logging company. Government grants for conservation groups have been withdrawn and the charity status of outspoken groups...
The World Social Forum: another world is possible
James Whelan (2003). Reflections on the 2003 WSF in Porto Allegre, Brasil.
Towards a scholarship of advocacy
James Whelan and Sam La Rocca (2003). Presentation at Ecopolitics, Melbourne, 29 November.
Keeping it Real: University collaboration with community based environmental advocates
James Whelan (2003): The higher education sector has been urged to demonstrate community relevance by engaging with community problem-solving and action for social justice and by acting as ‘significant allies’ of the community advocacy sector. Despite these urgings,...
Popular education for the environment: Restoring confidence in education as a strategy for social and environmental change
James Whelan (2002). The significance attached to the expressions ‘education’ and ‘activism’ by distinct communities of practice amplifies their difference and separation. Environmental activists tend to refer to their media releases, lobbying,...
Community organising by the book
James Whelan (2002). A critical appraisal of the Midwest Academy community organiser training program (a modified version of this paper was published in Applied Environmental Education and Communication)
Education and training for effective environmental advocacy
James Whelan’s (2002) PhD thesis: an action research project to develop an understanding of and model for activist education and training in the Australian environment movement.
Bringing About Change
James Whelan (2001) A thought starter for the 2001 National Environment Movement Conference