Who are community organizers? Are they fresh-faced and idealistic? Are they in it for the money? Consider this quote from Rubin and Rubin (2008:173):
Willing to work long and inconvenient hours at less pay that could be earned elsewhere. Must have the patience of Job and a hide thick enough to withstand constant criticism and slow progress. Must be willing to accept the blame for failures. Must not try to claim personal credit for successes. Must be willing to learn new skills while helping others discover how to work together in organizations that bring about social change. Good communication and analytical skills desirable. Being able to articulate a vision of the future and having an empathetic personality a plus.
The best place to start this conversation is to understand how one becomes an activist. A person usually gets involved with an issue if it directly impacts on their daily lives. Macro-level and long-term problems such as global warming are hard issues to get people motivated to do anything about. On the other hand, if a company is contaminating the water supply on which you and your loved ones depend, the urge to act is much greater. But global climate change and pollution are very real and both deal with the environmental issues. This connection between macro problems and personal issues is what the sociological imagination is all about.
What does it mean to click? Brafman and Brafman (2010) wrote about clicking. They identified several things that “accelerate” the process by which people build strong patterns of interaction with each other (clicking). First, people need to open up to each other. Questions like “How are you?” do this. Other questions get at facts or evaluate the issue at hand. The most potent way to connect is at the “gut level” by saying things such as “I am sad you are not here,” or “You really are important to me or the cause.”
Helping maintain a sense of hope requires that activists and members of the community engage in activities that generate and reinforce hope is the third factor in becoming an activist. To do this requires a level of pragmatism on what can be accomplished. People who are motivated towards action must believe that there is a chance that their activities will lead to success or resolution of the problem. In a word, they must be hopeful. In these times of highly politicized public life, it is hard to maintain hope when opponents find innovative ways to thwart your goals or even demonize you or your movement. One of the challenges of leadership is inspiring people and breeding a sense of hope. By inspiring others, leaders can “click” with members of the community (Brafman and Brafman 2010). More generally, the activist must connect or “click” with the people she or he is working with by being inclusive and appreciating differences (Rubin and Rubin 2008). On the other hand, it easy to spot differences, but seeing the commonalities in a diverse group may be a challenge.
Another “click” accelerator is proximity or being close, both in time and place, to the people you want to connect with. Being right next to others sparks spontaneity–chats, action, etc. More passive contacts are important as well such as saying hello, shaking hands, a newsletter, etc.
People recognize when someone is in the “zone” and this is an accelerator that Brafman and Brafman call resonance. It also means being focused on a specific issue. It means being open and available. Resonance works when the person is seen as authentic and attentive. An activist must be focused. Leaders need to continually refer back to the mission and ideals on which they and community members operate. One of the quickest ways to lose people is when the activities of the group veer away from the purpose on which the members formed.
Sharing similarities is another accelerator. It is easy to find differences–the key is to build as many similarities as possible. Capitalizing on these similarities leads to a group cohesiveness. We are more than our differences and these mutual interests and concerns have long lasting implications.
Rubin and Rubin (2008) wrote about the various roles that social activist can take on. First they can be catalysts for action. It takes a leader to move people to do something about their situation. It may be silent leaders who inspire others just by example. More active leaders jump right into the scene and try to make things better. Whatever the case, like a chemical reaction, sometimes a catalyst is needed to get things going.
Activists are teachers. This does not mean that they are formally trained and endowed with a lot of academic credentials. What it means is that they have knowledge and are able to convey to others that knowledge and how to use it. The Iron Law of Organizing necessitates a teacher role (Rubin and Rubin 2008). The law is never do for others what they can do for themselves. Think of the story of giving a fish versus teaching a person to fish as an example. Being a teacher is a very important role and to me, a mark of a good teacher is one who creates an environment where critical thinking and open-mindedness are fostered in the students. A good teacher sparks in his or her students a sense of empathy. Understanding where people are coming from is one of the hallmarks of my discipline. Max Weber, one of sociology’s greatest thinkers, thought this was a very important characteristic that sociologists should have.
Another aspect of being a teacher, at least for community organizing, is that the community activist needs to a part of the collective identity of the group or community. He or she needs to share the memories, ideals, struggles, successes, that the group has. An activist needs to be able to manipulate messages and symbols that captures the imagination of the group and conveys it in the best way to outsiders. The 19th century Italian sociologist, Antonio Gramsci, called people like this “organic intellectuals.” What it means is that it is preferable to identify and train leaders from within the community (See Rubin and Rubin 2008).
Activist need to be linkers or able to identify such people in their cause. You may have met such a person. I remember a few people like this. One friend who was a linker, when he met someone knew, asked for the person’s name, added it to either his mental or digital contact list. He also asked for the person’s spouse’s name. He wanted to know birthdays, anniversaries, etc. And he made sure to send a little message when events happened. The thing was, people gravitated to him without prompting–they just knew. So, either the activist needs this quality or have a close associate who does.
Finally, activists must get things done. They need to be implementers. The cliche “The proof is in the pudding,” is true. We want results not hollow rhetoric or promises. Getting things done is tough though. Sometimes it means not getting all that you or your group wants. It means being open and analytical in understanding the problem and the people involved. It also involves seeing the path that will lead to the results wanted and acting on it
INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTION
Restating some of the things I wrote above, one of the key ways of getting people motivated to act on an issue is by sharing the same problems. More importantly, when people share a common identity, it is easier to persuade them, through organic intellectuals, to mobilize.
Armand Mauss (1975) described the stages of a social movement known as convergence theory. The stages are incipiency, coalescence, institutionalization, fragmentation, and demise. The first stage, incipiency occurs when people become aware that they have a shared grievance. Coalescence occurs when groups emerge that follow certain goals. Often, precipitating events (Rubin and Rubin’s trigger event) lead to the formation of groups and the group must have a sense of hope that they will succeed creating change. The group becomes established in the institutionalization phase. Often, the organization becomes main stream and mission drift sets in creating dissension for some in the group. When that happens, the organization has reached the fragmentation phase. If the group becomes too fragmented then it will not survive.
One persistent issue with any movement is what to do about all the people who do not participate yet benefit in some way from by an action. These people are known as free riders. How involved people are in a movement depends on a lot of factors. One of the major factors why people are not involved is that they had not been personally contacted by an organizer to encourage them to stay involved (Rubin and Rubin 2008). Of course, if a person does not see how an action will help, then it would be hard to motivate them to participate–even if it is economically and socially beneficial for them to do so. Also, there is a special type of people who are hard motivate no matter what the issue, they are the apathetic, and they are a drag for community organizing as well as democracy in general. The task is finding some type of buy-in for as many people to act.
One way activist bring the issues to the public is through canvassing. This usually means going from door-to-door, presenting the issue to as many people as possible. The tough thing to do is getting past rationalizations. Or as Alinsky (1971, 112) wrote, “learn to search out the rationalizations, treat them as rationalizations, and break through.” It may also mean that activists need to have smaller group interactions or even one-on-one meetings. Often house meetings are successful in getting the message out.
Whatever the form of canvassing, there are techniques for building empowered mobilization. Paulo Friere (1970, 52) wrote:
It is only when the oppressed find the oppressor out and become involved in the organized struggle for their liberation that they begin to believe in themselves. This discovery cannot be purely intellectual but must involve action; nor can it be limited to mere activism, but must include serious reflection: only then will it be praxis.
It may appear that mobilization activities are tough and dreary, but they should be fun. Remember that a lot of social action involves humor, sarcasm, skits, etc. For many people, ridicule is a strong motivator. Alinsky noted that organizers needed to personalize issues, and ridicule is a potent way to do that, is about putting a face to the people or organizations which are causing suffering. This is where ingenuity and a sense of frivolity are definitely needed. I encourage you to look up Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman, or more currently the Yes Men. Very smart people doing very funny things for very good reasons.
SOURCES
Alinsky, Saul David. 1989. Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals. Vintage Books ed. New York: Vintage Books.
Brafman, Ori and Rom Brafman. 2010. Click: The Magic of Instant Connections. New York: Broadway Books.
Mauss, Armand L. 1975. Social Problems as Social Movements. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Rubin, Herbert J., and Irene S. Rubin. 2008. Community Organizing and Development. 4th ed. Needham Heights, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.
