This video is the seventh session of the "Fractures" series, an internationalist teaching series hosted by the Transnational Institute. The session focuses on strategies for resistance and achieving lasting positive change in the global political landscape, drawing on the experiences of activists from various movements. The speakers discuss the distinctions between activism and organizing, the role of women in armed struggle, narrative power in the face of the far-right, the importance of internationalism, and the need for systems of accountability.
Activism vs. Organizing: The discussion highlights the crucial difference between short-term, issue-based activism and long-term, community-based organizing necessary for sustainable change. The latter emphasizes consensus-building, accountability, and tedious but essential work.
Women in Armed Struggle: Dr. Gowrinathan's research on female fighters challenges conventional views of women's roles in resistance, revealing their motivations and complexities within various armed struggles.
Narrative Power and the Far-Right: Shanelle Matthews emphasizes the importance of reclaiming narrative power from the far-right by building narrative infrastructure, employing effective communication strategies, and crafting compelling stories that resonate with broad audiences.
Internationalism and Accountability: The speakers underscore the critical role of transnational organizing and building systems of accountability for long-term impact, recognizing the interconnectedness of global struggles and the need for shared strategies.
Building Resilient Movements: The conversation addresses the challenges of navigating political repression and building resilient movements, highlighting the need for both short-term mobilization and long-term organization. The importance of a long-term commitment and the potential for collective action is emphasized.
Tuba Sed distinguishes activism as issue-based, short-term, and often driven by the news cycle. It relies heavily on online platforms and can lead to "celebrity activism," potentially overshadowing grassroots organizing. Organizing, in contrast, is described as repetitive, community-based, and offline. It focuses on structural issues, consensus-building, and long-term commitment, requiring accountability and navigating internal hierarchies.
The implications for long-term movement building are significant. Sed argues that the prevalence of activism over organizing leads to less interest in tedious, long-term work, a decline in organizational building, and increased susceptibility to "cancel culture." The lack of accountability within movements, fueled by the emphasis on individual activism, hinders long-term sustainability and damages movements' ability to evolve strategies and address internal conflicts constructively. She suggests that a greater focus on organizing is crucial for building resilient and impactful movements capable of lasting change.
Shanelle Matthews argues that progressive movements need to outmaneuver and out-strategize the far-right narratively, recognizing that culture, algorithms, and ideology mutually reinforce each other. She emphasizes the need for narrative infrastructure—durable, well-resourced organizations and platforms—to counter the far-right's existing media machines.
Her proposed strategies include:
Building Narrative Infrastructure: Investing in long-term infrastructure (think tanks, media outlets, digital tools) to create and disseminate counter-narratives. This includes securing digital spaces free from the control of big tech companies that amplify harmful narratives.
Exploiting Existing Platforms: While advocating for alternative platforms, she acknowledges the need to strategically utilize existing social media and traditional media to reach wider audiences.
Effective Storytelling: Communicating in a clear, accessible style, employing a narrative framework that includes narrative analysis, guiding principles, and identification of narrative possibilities and interventions. This requires moving beyond defensive messaging and employing strategies that resonate with diverse audiences.
Challenging Respectability Politics: Rejecting the notion that progressive messaging must always be polite or palatable to mainstream audiences, opting instead for unapologetic storytelling that centers the experiences of marginalized communities.
Focusing on the Future: Crafting a vision that goes beyond resistance, actively shaping a compelling narrative about the desired future and setting the terms for what comes next.
