We want change: Now what?

"Grassroots protest for change may emerge at any moment and be progressive, potent, and victorious. These movements gave new hope that a renewed focus on the "bread and butter" issues of traditional organizing - would result in new progressive organizing and social change."

- Jacqueline Mondros

No important social justice or welfare legislation has ever been passed without a significant fight or challenge over time. The fight for civil rights, social security, health care, housing, income, food security, women's reproduction rights, right to marry, have all been long term battles and are still being fought today (Mondros, 346). 

They all got started on a small level and grew to become large scale endeavors that required good organizing and good ideas to over come the status quo. Beginning as grassroots movements, how did they progress to something more and what were the approaches to obtain social change?

When seeking to make social change, Mondros believes we require social action, legislative action, and political action to see the changes we wish to see. Being social workers mandates that we be active in the processes to help promote these changes and learn how to be advocates for those that are marginalized and oppressed (pg 346).

Social Action - Rosa Parks and the NAACP

The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) is an excellent example of a civil rights group that promoted social activism. Social action strategies are used by groups, like the NAACP, to try to gain enough power through power holders (like government officials, representatives) to change social conditions (Mondros, 347). Rosa Parks, famous for setting off the year long Montgomery Bus Boycott, was actually a member of the NAACP and had been for 12 years, serving also as a Secretary. The summer before she was arrested, Parks had attended a training at a labor and civil rights organizing school that lasted for ten days. During her training she learned about other civil rights activities and other acts of civil disobedience. Her education about social action and her involvement with the NAACP gave her the opportunity and education she needed to make a bold social action and statement that led to the famous boycott (Loeb, 2005). 

This action to me represents a consensus approach to community organizing and social action. The NAACP took efforts to "engage citizens in developing their local leadership capacity and to equip them with the knowledge, skills, and organizational power to make positive decisions affecting their social, emotional, environmental, and economic conditions" (Ohmer et all, 237). It took years for the civil rights amendment to be passed, but the fight was a long battle that ultimately prevailed.

Legislative Action - Right to Marry

Any form of legislative action is an attempt to influence political leaders to pass laws that will uphold or provide rights and protections, or in some cases to prevent passage of legislation that will violate rights (Mondros, 347). This next stage also involves a consensus approach by meeting with elected officials, writing reports, and educating or contributing to spreading the message to a larger population. Using social media, gaining support from experts, pursuing issues in court, electing candidates that support social views, help create policy formation, and participating in demonstrations are all ways to make successful legislative action (Mondros, 348). 

The fight for gay marriage is a great example of legislative action for equal rights. Freedom to Marry is a social activism group that focuses on promoting legislative change. It's "Road Map to Victory" consists of 1) continuing to gain majority support of gay marriage across the country, 2) winning to the freedom to marry in more states, and 3) ending federal marriage discrimination. 

Founded in 2003, the organization has helped create the climate where 25 states now have the right to marry, gained a large majority support for same sex couples, and helped contribute to the dismantling of SCOTUS's "Defense of Marriage Act" in June of 2013 (Freedom to Marry). By using influence over the legislative branch, more and more couples are experiencing the freedom to marry.

Political Action - Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Political action requires building support and convincing voters the importance of voting for an organizations issue or candidate. Planned Parenthood Action Fund educates citizens on a local scale and engages in elections, influencing legislation, advocacy, voter education and organizing in communities. PPAF also has a high success rate of supporting candidates that are pro-choice and support healthy family planning. In 2012, the PPAF spent $5,039,114 and had a success rate of 98.76%. They supported 7 winning candidates and opposed 7 losing candidates, which is where 80% of their funds went that election year (Young).

Whether the action is social, legislative, or political, all of these actions attempt to transfer power  and resources to change lives, all the actions of continuous and must be waged over a long period of time, and any of these actions can be done at the micro, mezzo, or macro level (Mondros, 351). 

These actions can be done together, but they also have merits of being done separately. But it is agreed that "Power will have to be built from the bottom up one neighborhood at a time" (Mondros, 356).

References

Freedom to Marry. Retrieved from: http://www.freedomtomarry.org/pages/about-us

Mondros, J. (2013) Political, Social, and Legislative Action. In Weil, M., Reisch, M., & Ohmer, M. L. (Eds.). (2013). The handbook of community practice (2nd ed, pp. 345 - 360). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Ohmer, M and Brooks, F. (2013) The Practice of Community Organizing. In Weil, M., Reisch, M., & Ohmer, M. L. (Eds.). (2013). The handbook of community practice (2nd ed, pp. 233 - 248). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Loeb, P. (October, 2005) The Real Rosa Parks: Separating the myths around her life from the (far more inspiring) realities. Mother Jones. Retrieved at: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2005/10/real-rosa-parks\

Young, Lindsay. "Outside spenders' return on investment". Sunlight Foundation. Retrieved from: http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/12/17/return_on_investment/

Hegemony and how to kick off social change

With alternative development theory, Lingam describes development as "no longer viewed simplistically as gross domestic product, growth rate, and per capita income, but rather, measured through poverty reduction and improvements int he quality of life and familial community well being" (pg. 205). How do we make the necessary social changes to go from our current view of human growth and development to one that is more well rounded like the alternative development theory?

As someone that identifies as a socialist, it is my personal belief that capitalism does not meet or even attempt to meet basic human needs. It has no need to. With shareholders and corporate interests, a community's well being does not have to be considered. Globalization may have some positive impacts upon the global economy, but overall the effects are creating a constant under class and wide spread inequality. In order for capitalism and globalization to flourish and be successful, there must always be an underclass. In Western cultures or in the United States, “The Positive Functions of Poverty”, by Herbert Gans can be easily applied to this topic. Gans discusses how as a society need inequality and that society wouldn't be able to function without it.

If our society values capitalism or the idea of the 'American Dream' - of having nothing and pulling yourself up by your boot straps to have it all, then it is easy to see why our culture feels that leaving others behind is acceptable. "I did it, they can to." In 2011, US Senator Marco Rubio famously said that, "We are a nation of haves and soon-to-haves, of people who have made it and people who will make it." -- This kind of thinking is simply false and it encourages this hegemonic thinking that is the opposite of coercion. Whereas coercion uses force or intimidation to get folks to do what you want, hegemony is the act of convincing another that it is in their best interest to do what you want them to do.

Our political system and politicians as it is now, want us to believe that there are no structural inequalities or systemic injustices. It wants us to believe that with hard work and determination we can make it to the top and be one of the "haves" and we can look at the 'soon to haves". If we blame each other or blame ourselves for large failures, we are less likely to demand change.

What kind of changes could we make?

First, changes would need to be grounded in bottom up work with the beginnings in a grass roots campaign (Lingam 209). Taking a combination of community development practices would encourage citizens to become more active in the democratic process if members were able to see changes on a local level occurred. Starting with neighborhood or community organizing would allow for the organization to grow and develop over time, increasing members as the movement progresses. For example, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, participants spent a year in small neighborhood planning and budgeting groups (Gamble, 335). The involvement of citizens meant they had a say in the projects that would be funded in their neighborhood. The first budget meeting included roughly 1,000 citizens and within 10 years grew to be over 40,000 people (Gamble, 335).

Small changes lead to large social movements and we would begin to see a paradigm shift from our current way of thinking about capitalism and human development to something like alternative development theory that focuses on the improvement in quality of life and well being for all.

References

Gans, H (1971). The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All. Social Policy July/August pp. 20-24.

Marco Rubio: United States Senator for Florida. (2001) Rubio: "We Are A Nation Of Haves And Soon-To-Haves" [Press Release]. Retrieved from: http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=66bd09d9-2acc-41c0-b853-b43ee6f27ad2

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism

Gamble, D. (2013). Participatory methods in social work. In Weil, M., Reisch, M., & Ohmer, M. L. (Eds.). (2013). The handbook of community practice (2nd ed., pp. 327-344). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Lingam, L. (2013). Development theories and community development practices: trajectory of changes. In Weil, M., Reisch, M., & Ohmer, M. L. (Eds.). (2013). The handbook of community practice (2nd ed, pp. 195 - 215). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Creativity, Public Schools and Social Labs

Ken Robertson believes that creativity comes from not being afraid to be wrong. And perhaps he is right. Our schools system, a very hierarchical system don't offer much opportunity for students, teachers, families, and the administration to work together as a community to create policies and changes which we would like to see in our education system.

In the following TED Talk, Robertson argues that our current school system is forcing us to lose our creativity ... which in the long run will affect us by keeping us from attempting to make change in the future or even in the now. Robertson mentions that we are teaching students as if we know the future - when in reality we do not know what the world will be like in 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. We teach with a model that assumes we have the answers, when we really have none.

This video ties in very well with Hassan's concepts of a social lab: the idea of bringing together numerous stake holders in public education and sit down to come up with prototypes, I would say that Ken Robertson would be someone I would want to have in the room. Robertson's ideas of changing public education may be radical to some, but how would be know unless we took the community at large and discussed changes we want to see?

Although not a social lab, a twist on education is a small private school in Kennebunk, Maine. The New School was founded in the year 2000 and it's mission is to "provide a challenging learning environment that balances the roots of community and the wings of self-discovery, with courage, curiosity, caring and the commitment to make a difference in the world." They describe themselves as "a small,state approved, democratic, community based high school in Kennebunk, ME. Our classes are small, many are hands-on, and teachers work closely with students on independent projects, apprenticeships and intensive travel studies. We're all about creativity in the classroom."

The part of The New School that is most interesting is that it is a democratic system. Students and faculty vote on the curriculum, the syllabus, class trips, class projects, funding, fundraising, and any new construction or contracts that are made available to the school. The vote does not have to be unanimous, it is a majority vote. This school is excellent for students that struggle with traditional public schools due to behavioral problems or even learning disabilities. Students can choose their own curriculum and develop their own education while giving to their community 

Facebook: the new School

Like I said before,this is not a social lab. However, it is a group of people - all stake holders in the school and community, who come together to create ideas and see if they work. I believe that because it is on such a small scale it has been incredibly successful over a 14 year period.

The problem with conducting a social lab, in my opinion, is the attaining of various stake holders and holding on to them. Because progress is slow and often hard to define, I feel that members could get easily discouraged and lose interest in the social lab. If social labs are long processes, finding a way to motivate people to participate in the lab would be a challenge.

In the case of the sustainable food lab, people wanted to be there and money was not an issue. But in the case of the Bhavisha Lab, employees were forced to participate by their supervisors in a number of cases. How can a lab be successful if it is not voluntary participation? The students of the New School all want to see the school succeed and even if there is not immediate success, they can see the process and see the results over time. It is the level of commitment as a stake holder that can make a break a social lab. 

References

Hassan, Z. (2014). The social labs revolution: A new approach for solving our most complex challenges. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.