<
https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/love-apocalypse/2013/06/29/labor2019s-new-love-building-a-caring-economy-involves-radical-acts-of-empathy-from-both-sides>
"Saul Alinsky is called the father of modern community organizing. His 1971
Rules for Radicals is like a political version of
The Art of War merged
with street fighting tips from a boxing coach—the tone is gruff, aggressive,
and blunt. For Alinsky, the ends justify pretty much any means. But a new crop
of activists is forging a different path—and turning organizing orthodoxy on
its head.
In the traditional Alinsky approach, opponents are “enemies” and strategy
involves concepts like “pressure” and “attack.” Alinsky’s final rule is “Pick
the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Don’t just target
institutions, he says—go after individuals and make it personal and painful.
This is the advice that helped shape modern political organizing—not always the
most effective approach for alliance building and mass public appeal.
The new generation of community organizers is adapting the antagonistic
politics of the past and building bridges instead of burning them—not
necessarily abandoning old-school, Alinsky-style organizing altogether, but
reimagining orthodoxies of organizing to create new alliances, innovations, and
possibilities."
[...]
"One of Ai-jen Poo’s role models is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who understood
very well the advantages of combative organizing models as well as the power of
joining with your one-time enemies to build bridges toward change. Now, in the
shadow of the civil rights era, as opponents of fairness and justice rev up
with increasing hatred and vitriol, a new generation of organizers—notably led
by women of color—is innovating new approaches to organizing that borrow from
these deep and old notions of community and love. They point the way forward
toward a future that is better for all through a politics and practice that
potentially engages everyone in achieving change."
Via Muse.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
