ActivistTools.org  
* ANALYSIS, STRATEGY & TACTICS

Also see Macro-analysis (study guides and curricula) and
ActivistTraining.org for all the best training resources,
Webinars, workshops, classes, manual and guides, and
Bill Moyer’s widely acclaimed Movement Action Plan,
8 Stages of Social Movements and 4 Roles of Activists.

HOW CHANGE HAPPENS:
Kurt Lewin’s Change Management Model–three stage theory of change is commonly referred to as Unfreeze, Change, Freeze (or Refreeze) On such important issues, the forces exerted by an argument, no matter how persuasive, may not be enough to change peoples’ attitudes. Broader changes at the institutional level may be necessary in order to effect sufficient change on one’s life space to precipitate shifts in important attitudes. References: Lewin, K. (1951).

Visit MovementforaNew Society.org for the best strategic and tactical resources
by Bill Moyer, George Lakey and other leading MNS strategists and organizers

*Strategy & Tactics from MNS/
Movement for a New Society

“Nonviolent direct action is a set of tactics that go outside conventional means of advocacy… Community organizers sometimes call it ‘street heat’ — blocking entrances, boycotting, fasting, tree-sitting… “

Thus GEORGE LAKEY, MNS co-founder, strategist and trainer, begins his 2019 manual, “How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning.” And none are more qualified to interpret and promote the MNS approach to “Analysis, Vision and Strategy,” having lived, learned and developed it throughout his six full decades as a leader in many movements and campaigns from Civil Rights and Vietnam to the Movement for Black Lives. See his many articles and essays at WagingNonviolence.org.

See Lakey’s timely video summary, Polarization & “How We Win”
(30-min.) and the trailer for his new bio doc at GeorgeLakeyFilm.com.

And in “How We Win,” Lakey argues for the need to “build an [intersectional] movement of movements” based on a “practical and radical vision” that:

  1. Builds credibility
  2. Confirms the perception that all progressive causes are blocked by the economic elite
  3. Connects the desired future with innovations happening now, and
  4. Provides a common platform on which multiple movements can unite.

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BILL MOYER (1933-2002), the other most influential MNS strategist and co-founder, is best known for his “Movement Action Plan” (MAP) conceptual framework. Its comprehensive descriptions of his “Eight Stages of Social Movements” and “Four Roles of Activists” are detailed in his seminal organizing manual, “Doing Democracy: The MAP Model for Organizing Social Movements“, all explained at  Activisttraining.org. Also Bill Moyer’s final training video and MNSers play “Rainstorm,”
a 2-minute “light-and-lively” (ice-breaker game) in 2009.

Other prominent MNS authors, theorists and strategists include: David Albert,  Michael Beer (NonviolenceInternational.net), Steve Chase (Solidarity 2020 and Beyond), Chuck Collins (IPS-DC.org), George Lakey, Robert A. Irwin ( Building a Peace System ; digital searchable), Barbara Jensen,  Jerry Koch-Gonzalez, Pamela Haines, Betsy Leondar-Wright, Stephen Zunes. Other prolific MNS writers now deceased include: Lynne Shivers, Lillian and George Willoughby, and Felice Yeskel.

See MNS Authors & Books for more about Movement for a New Society: Training, vision, strategy more. Find MNS archives in Swarthmore Library Peace Collection.
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