Social Movement Resources
Yes! Magazine
The most important magazine for everyone who wants to transform our world. It focuses on all the positive things people are doing around the US and world to create positive change. There is so little focus on the positive things that are going on around us that it is very easy to get cynical and depressed (which is exactly why all the news focuses on the negative). Yes! is essential reading for all of us!!!
Doing Democracy – The Movement Action Plan Model for Organizing Social Movements, by Bill Moyer (ISBN:0-086571-418-5)
A great resource for understanding how to build an effective social change movement. Written by Bill Moyer, an nonviolent struggle organizer from the Movement for A New Society (not the PBS guy), used his experience both organizing and working with organizers of nonviolent struggle around the world. This book outlines the Four Roles of Social Movements, the Eight Stages of Social Movements, Believing in the Power of Social Movements, and case studies of five different social movements and how they went through the eight stages.
The Empowerment Manual – A Guide for Collaborative Groups, by Starhawk (ISBN: 978-0-086571-697-1)
Starhawk was one of the trainers in my first trainer’s training for nonviolent action. She also was one of the main facilitators in the planning meetings for the 1983 Livermore Action at Lawrence Livermore Labs, where over 1,000 protesters were arrested protesting the nuclear weapons that were designed at the Lab. She has been involved in many of the big direct action campaigns over the past 30+ years including the Seattle WTO protests in 1999. This is a guide for those seeking to foster vision, trust, accountability and responsibility through shared power and bottom-up leadership. This desperately needed toolkit is key to:
- understanding group dynamics
- facilitating communication and collective decision-making
- dealing effectively with difficult people
The more people who have read this important book, the more effective our movement will be!