Tactics for Mobilisers: Amanda Tattersall’s review of ‘Rules for Revolutionaries’
You have probably heard of Rules for Radicals, an old but still living set of strategies designed for changing the world, written by the grandfather of community organising – Saul Alinsky. It is that book, or at least its title, that inspired Becky Bond and Zack Exley...
Can the Centre Hold? (book review)
Joel Dignam reviews Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom’s ‘The Starfish and the Spider’. Decentralisation is so hot right now. People are talking about swarms, distributed leadership, horizontal learning. And it’s not the only thing that’s so hot right now. The...
Stu Bowen, Environmental Manager (Aust/NZ) Patagonia International Inc.
James has helped me better appreciate my unique set of values and understand what inspires me to action, which is a great tool to recognise other stakeholder’s values and what motivates them to action. This growth allows me to communicate far more effectively with all...
What do community organisers DO?
Organisers are sometimes described as ‘Jack of all trades’. It can be a complex and demanding role. To make sense of the role, the Change Agency synthesised recent position descriptions developed by social movement groups. We then cross-referenced that...
Understanding the success at Bentley
The six pillars of the Northern Rivers social movement against unconventional gas as evident in the Bentley blockade Based on an interview with Lock the Gate National Chair, Simon Clough by Ken McLeod, 14 June 2014 Social movements promote participatory democracy....
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...
anticipating and avoiding demoblisation (June/July 2009)
De-mobilisation: Avoiding the post COP doldrums The Australian grassroots climate movement, like its counterparts in other parts of the world, risks a period of serious and substantial de-mobilisation of energy, resources, momentum and strategic direction following...
Anna Keenan, Students of Sustainability Collective 2006
Thank you for your involvement in SoS this year and for your continued commitment over the years to effecting sustainable environmental and social change. Your co-facilitated presentations on activist learning, campaign strategy and activist sustainability were all...
Glossary of terms
action learning | activist research | capacity building | community organising | effective advocacy | grass roots activism | popular education | social action | social change | Action learning An approach to research or organisational learning based on cycles of...
Environmental advocacy at Griffith University
Environmental advocacy describes social action that occurs when communities are compelled by a tension between desired and actual environmental management. Effective advocacy bridges the gap between community values and institutional environmental management....