research
Advocacy evaluation: Review and opportunities
Justin Whelan reviews the emerging literature in this field, noting the points of convergence and divergence and suggesting some limitations of the frameworks and opportunities for effective evaluation that meets the needs of interest groups.
Education for Building a People’s Movement
David Reed (1981) Education for Building a People’s Movement, South End Press, Boston, MA. (excellent reading on ‘social education’)
Revolution or inch by inch? Campaign approaches on climate change by environmental groups
Nina Lansbury Hall and Ros Taplin (2006). The question of whether NGOs are undertaking an ‘incremental’ or ‘revolutionary’ approach, or any other dichotomy is too simple: none of the NGOs appear to intentionally favour one type of strategy. Presented at the 9th annual...
Adult Education and Community Change
James Whelan (1994). A critical assessment of Friere, Knowles and community development.
Making a difference: Factors that influence participation in grassroots environmental activism in Australia
Sam La Rocca’s Honours study (2004) found that the important motivations and catalysts that inspire activism include ecological experiences, a sense of personal responsibility and a desire to make a difference. Barriers to participation include paid work...
Theatre of protest: The magnifying effects of theatre in direct action
Aidan Ricketts (2000) examines how devices such as imagination, ritual, ceremony, romance and symbolism, when combined with bold physical acts of protest, disobedience and defiance produce a powerful medium for asserting dissent. Published in the Journal.
Anti freeway campaign: long term movement building
Community organising case study of a campaign to prevent freeway construction in an inner-city park. Written in 2003 by tCA member James Whelan.
Influencing climate policy: The effectiveness of Australian NGO campaigns
Nina Lansbury Hall and Ros Taplin (2006) evaluate the effectiveness of Australian environmental non-government organisations’ (ENGO) campaigns on climate change, and examines their influence on climate-related policies in Australia. This research clarifies the role of...
Union coalitions: Stronger together, Amanda Tattersall
Everyone knows the principle behind collective organising is that when people work together they are stronger than those working alone. But this principle also applies to organisations. Coalitions between unions and community organisations are not new.
Anti whaling campaign in Australia
Rebecca Gray’s anti-whaling case study includes interviews with protagonists from the 1970s when this campaign dominated Australian environmental discourse.
Aquarius Rising: Terania Creek and the Australian forest protest movement
Vanessa Bible’s thesis on how the Terania Native Forest Action Group formed in 1974 and challenged the NSW Forestry Commission’s plans for Terania Creek in any conceivable way they could. What unfolded was a natural and spontaneous response Ð a direct...
Are academics irrelevant? Strategies for community university collaboration
James Whelan (2004): A discussion of obstacles to activist scholars and engaged academics, and proposes strategies to bridge this unhelpful divide. This paper was presented by Sam and James during the 2004 ‘Inside Out’ conference.
Campaign to control landclearing in Queensland
James Whelan and Kristen Lyons. Examines a hugely successful campaign run collaboratively by several ENGOs. The success of this campaign suggests that the emphasis placed on a narrowly defined set of social capital indicators in prevailing natural resource management...
Community organising for climate action
James Whelan (2012) describes how parts of the environment and climate change movements are adopting the techniques and logic of community organising. This challenges them to learn new habits of political analysis and engagement, and unlearn old ones.
Community Empowerment: Critical Perspectives from Scotland
Akwugo Emejulu and Mae Shaw have developed a great new publication that focuses on a concern about the meaning, politics, possibilities and practices of empowerment.
“One of everything”: Reconciling the individual and the collective in Australian climate activism
Georgina Woods (2012) draws on personal experiences from her collective organising in Rising Tide Newcastle, at Climate Camp 2008 and in the aftermath of the Copenhagen climate talks. Her article points to the reconciliation between the individual and the
For the Common Good: the Murray Darling Basin campaign
Mary Tinney. A Case Study of the Murray-Darling Water and Salinity Campaign of the Social Action Office