Non-Violent Direct Action and Organizing

When considering the systemic change necessary to address the climate crisis and many related social issues, it's important to reflect on strategy and tactics. We can learn a lot from the activists that have come before us about what sorts of actions are effective, or not so much, and how to grow a movement for change.

Recently a few books have been published on exactly this topic. Much of the leftist organizing tactics since the 1960s seems to have been forgotten in modern movements and so these books help save the learned lessons from the successes and failures of those movements. It is of course impossible to condense down a book full of lessons and discussion into a short essay, but let's at least list some of the main points in order to develop a stronger terminology and idea of what leftist organizing looks like.

George Lakey's 2018 book "How We Win" offers the following points and advice for successful action campaigns (mixed in with a little of my own commentary):

1. Protests are NOT direct action campaigns. One-off protests, marches, rallies, pretty much never effect any real change. Stop doing them. (A march might still be ok if the goal is uniting people of different groups to discuss issues and plan further action, but never think that a march alone will change policy.)
2. Campaigns should focus on a specific demand, and address that demand directly to the people that can make it happen -- corporate executives, state politicians, federal politicians, etc.
3. Campaigns have 4 types of social roles, all needed for a successful campaign. People tend to prefer one of the four, and organizations often specialize in one of the four. Try to work with folks with your same disposition, don't spend energy arguing with other roles and don't attack folks for doing their own actions within those roles, successful campaigns within movements need all four roles working together. 
1. Helper - volunteers that perform direct actions to help people, like work at homeless shelters or build homes for the homeless
2. Advocate - champions policy improvements, lobbies authority for that change
3. Organizer - works to get people together and whip turnout for events
4. Rebel - focuses on disruption; non-violent civil disobedience
4. Campaigns have a better chance of success when they go on offense -- demanding a better world -- rather than playing strict defense and just trying to protect status quo from loss. Even if you are afraid of losing status quo gains, still demand more!
5. Authority tries to pretend that issues are a "done deal" to discourage activism. Don't believe it, organize for change anyway -- and while doing so, organize an independent power base and make the authority come to you, rather than the other way around. If you have to beg for a meeting, then you don't have the power to shape the outcome yet.
6. When you start a strong campaign, it is natural that you will polarize people. Polarization is an expression of today's economic inequality and can't be fixed until we address systemic issues, so don't sweat it too much. Make the case for your values and demands and people will join you over time as you do more action. Focus on winning over groups one step at a time -- first the close allies, then the neutral but sympathetic, then the neutral but dismissive, etc.
7. Don't let your members burn out! Typically want to assign smaller short-term tasks with a near deadline so folks don't get stuck on open-ended projects. Rotating positions and roles in the organization might also help and get everyone experience. Also gives a way for new members to get immediately involved -- but rather than open calls for participation, might want to help select a team for new members to match skills and interests. These smaller teams should be managed more as equals and less hierarchical (not committees with chairs and rankings).
8. When launching a campaign, look for actions (not just a rally or march) that can draw a distinction between how people think the system works and how it actually works. It is sometimes beneficial to meet with your "opponent" (the target of your campaign) and let them know what your demands are and when you plan to start actions if they are not met; this can give you the moral high ground in the public's view.
9. Actions should always follow "action logic" -- in other words, how does someone not in your group view your action? Is it clear and obvious what you are doing and what your demands are? Ideally, outside observers should understand without even any signs or literature. Unclear actions that get in the way of ordinary people doing their daily tasks could actually backfire.
10. "Good news organizing" should focus on positive steps toward victory; getting too hung up on the latest setbacks and failures isn't a winning attitude. Try not to let your organization get bogged down in negative news, even if you can't stop every individual from doing so. In particular, membership meetings typically don't need to focus on negative news; members that show up are likely already motivated by what's going on! Instead spend that time developing organizing skills, show films, etc., that provide examples of victories that we can learn tactics and strategy from.
11. Find a balance between joining (agreeing) and differentiating (disagreeing). Can't agree all the time -- need discussion and constructive criticism to lead to better activism! -- but also can't be disagreeing so much that the group falls apart. Interestingly: professional, middle-class, highly schooled folks are the most vulnerable to "compulsive differentiation" because of the function of their class in society and the nature of their schooling, and this attitude tends to be a big turn-off to working class folks. Talk with group members regularly and make sure they are at least sometimes acting outside of their habit and not stuck in a pattern.
12. Declare from the very beginning that your organization is exercising non-violent action to get ahead of any accusations otherwise. A highly structured direct action lessens threats of violence against members. Train people to be prepared against provocateurs and others trying to start violence. Destruction of property is usually self-defeating and should not be included in non-violent action. Violent defense can lead to escalation and loss of moral high group to the public and should be met instead with other non-violent measures.
13. The organizational culture must understand class dynamics. "Unlike some on the left, I don't believe class is the number one contradiction that drives other systems of oppression like race and gender. I see a set of structures of domination dating back thousands of years, that have their own variations and ways of maintaining themselves." (Lakey, pg 164). This quote seems like a fantastic expression of the thoughts on hierarchy and domination within social ecology -- the real issue is hierarchy in all its forms, which includes but is not limited to class. Race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and others all form hierarchies. "The compulsion to put one form of domination first is itself a classist tic, since classism teaches us to create vertical rankings of everything, even each other." As such, Lakey notes that much activism is driven by the middle-class and therefore believes it is critical for any movement to have voices from across all classes. Lakey points out the following "classist tics" we should be aware of to create more inclusive organizations and activism:
1. Professional, middle class people are taught to defer gratification and internalize rules, focus on process rather than people, use language fluently, set goals and plan over time to achieve them -- in other words, the skills needed to be a manager or teacher for the working-class. Expected to respect bosses and be "bossy" with others due to their economic role of managing, correcting, and sorting people into acceptable and unacceptable categories. Conflict is to be avoided or quickly resolved -- in other words, to keep the business running smoothly.
2. Working class people are taught to obey and have their lives managed by others, and so find inner freedom in breaking the rules and not delaying gratification. Workers expect action more than language, and find conflict acceptable or even expected as long as it is discussion as peers and not "correcting" others (which is the behavior of bosses, which they don't want to be). Workers tend to focus on people (groups, gangs, etc.) more than linear productivity processes.
3. Owning-class people are socialized to focus on the "big picture" and long-term vision because that's how they maintain control and set direction. Owning-class expects to hire others to manage smaller scale and perform the work. Owning-class is also taught to break middle-class rules, is more impatient with those that insist on rules and procedure, and more willing to elevate people they have selected as having appropriate skills.
14. Focus on action not talk for movement building. Start with local actions, look for ways to link them and grow stronger. Several campaigns together add up to a movement. Build state/national infrastructure that can keep pressure on higher level government but also can rapidly redeploy to help local campaigns that need organizing help.
15. Don't let yourself get co-opted!  "One way to know your campaign is winning is when liberal politicians offer to be helpful." Resist the temptation to "work with" them -- it might seem like a win-win, but the more they do for your cause, the more you grow dependent on them and will be pushed further into compromise than you would have wanted or could have won. Again, the answer is to build independent power, force a power shift away from oligarchy and toward true democracy, and force authority to come to you rather than the other way around.
16. The movement must have a radical vision of the future. A vision builds credibility for the movement, calls attention to how the system is blocking the progressive vision in multiple ways, and provides a common platform for many campaigns to unite around. "We can't gain majority support only by promising a list of goodies -- it's not common sense. People know there is no Santa Claus, and many people fear the higher tax burdens those gains imply. We stimulate a different conversation when we offer an alternative economy that would put working families first, make room for entrepreneurs while keeping the primary focus on working and middle class.