Possible Readings for
T. Theories and Strategies

“Places to Intervene in a System,” Whole Earth, Winter 1997, 22 sp.

http://www.developerdotstar.com/mag/articles/places_intervene_system.html

From numbers and physical stock to feedback loop rules, goals, and paradigms, where can you get the most leverage for change? Challenging strategy reflections from a systems theory expert.

“Twelve leverage points (by Donella H. Meadows),” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, accessed April 7, 2006, 8 sp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donella_Meadows'_twelve_leverage_points_to_intervene_in_a_system

Schematic overview of “Places to Intervene in a System.”

“What is Strategy?” by Michael Albert, Radical Theory Instructional, 3 p.

http://www.zmag.org/instructionals/rtinstruc/id61.htm

Strategy is like a bridge: you are on one side, you want to go to the other side, and your strategy is the way for you to get there.

“What Social Science Can Tell Us About Social Change,” by G. William Domhoff, Sociology Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, March 2005, 2 p.

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/change/science.html

A brief summary of five useful things social scientists have learned about social change with links to more ideas. Patt: A 1-page summary of social science issues on social change, with a large number of other links. The article is certainly academic, but not overly technical or abstract.

“Two Interpretations of Contemporary Social Change,” a chapter by Alain Touraine from Social Change and Modernity, edited by Hans Haferkamp and Neil J. Smelser, University of California Press, 1992, 41 p.

http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=ft6000078s&chunk.id=d0e2074

Patt: Alain Touraine was born in 1925 in Hermanville-sur-Mer (France) and received his History “agrégation” from the Ecole Normale Supèrieure of Paris in 1950. The body of Alain Touraine’s work constitutes a “sociology of action" — as the title of one of his books, published in 1965, puts it. The third and present period is mainly concerned with development as the fundamental agent of social movements, an area in which Touraine intends to continue working in the coming years.

“The beloved community of Martin Luther King,” by Grace Lee Boggs, Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures, Spring 2004, 7 p.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=704

Might events have taken a different path if we had found a way to infuse the struggle for Black Power with King’s philosophy of nonviolence?

“Race, the Democratic Party, and Electoral Strategy,” speech by Bill Fletcher, Jr., Columbia University, October 10, 2006, 19 p.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/201/201_cover_race_dems_fletcher_ed_bd.html

One-sentence description.

“How to Topple Saddam with Weapons of Will,” by Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall, Sojourners, September-October 2002, 8 p.

http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0209&article=020910

Anyone who opposes U.S. military action to dethrone Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, has a responsibility to suggest how he might otherwise be ushered out the backdoor of Baghdad. Fortunately there is an answer: civilian-based, nonviolent resistance by the Iraqi people, developed and applied in accordance with a strategy to undermine Saddam's basis of power.

“How to Develop Peace Teams — ‘The Light Bulb Theory’,” by George Lakey, 2002, 11 p.

http://www.nvpf.org/np/research/how_to_develop_peace_teams.htm

Nonviolent action is a broad term that includes 3 very different applications: social change (World Peace Brigade’s planned Freedom March into Northern Rhodesia for independence), social defense (Puerto Ricans defending the island of Culebra from target practice by the US. Navy), and third-party nonviolent intervention (Shanti Sena stopping Indian riots between Hindus and Muslims). Good article, but disappeared from the web.

“Fighting To Win: An Interview with Craig Rosebraugh by Darby Dargymm”, The ‘A’ Word Issue #4, 2003?, 13 p.

http://thunderbay.indymedia.org/news/2003/04/6185.php

Rosebraugh argues reform in the United States has proven itself to be a fruitless venture, a political and social revolution is necessary in the United States, and a revolution in the United States must be comprised of a variety of strategies — but it cannot be successful without the implementation of political violence.

“Non-Violence and it’s Violent Consequences,” by Bill Meyers, 26 p.

http://www.mcn.org/e/iii/nonv.htm

http://www.iiipublishing.com/nonviolence.pdf

Nonviolence encourages violence by the state and corporations. The ideology of nonviolence creates effects opposite to what it promises. To minimize violence we must adopt a pragmatic, reality-based method of operation.

“Nonviolence Playlets,” collected by Walter Wink, 48 p.

http://www2.wcc-coe.org/dov.nsf/0/cab52d27cbeaf56ac1256e3600364d4f?OpenDocument

29 short plays that dramatically reconstruct actual experiences in which nonviolent direct action has been used, successfully, to overcome violence.

“September 11: A Pacifist Response,” by Stanley Hauerwas, Hospitality, October 2002.

http://www.opendoorcommunity.org/HospOct02.pdf (front page article)

One-sentence description.

“The Failure of War,” by Wendell Berry, Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures, Winter 2001/2002

http://www.commondreams.org/views01/1207-01.htm

One-sentence description.

“Arresting Disobedience,” by Jessica Azulay, ZNet Daily Commentaries, January 22, 2003, 7 p.

http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2003-01/22azulay.cfm

We need to be able to show elites that the number of people willing to engage in more cost-exacting tactics is growing and will continue to grow exponentially if they continue on their present course towards war. This means we have to design tactics that not only make our dissent blatant, but that also appeal to other antiwar sympathizers to get involved in big demonstrations and civil disobedience so that our movement can expand. The best way to do this is to choose activities that are bold, creative, defiant, and empowering.

“True Resistance/What Nonviolence Is,” by Gordon Clark, ZNet Daily Commentaries, February 6, 2003, 7 p.

http://www.zmag.org/Sustainers/content/2003-02/06clark_.cfm

Nonviolence is a force and a method based on love and compassion — a love so great that it asks us to love even our enemies, and a compassion so deep that it compels us to accept personal risk, and to endure personal suffering before we would allow suffering to come to our fellow beings.

“The Parameters of Nonviolent Action: What Makes An Action Nonviolent?” Nonviolent Activist, War Resisters League, July-August 2001, 21 p.

http://www.warresisters.org/nva0701-2.htm

Nine perspectives on nonviolent action.

“What is ‘Diversity of Tactics’?” by an anonymous activist, 12 p.

http://www.greenfyre.org/gfyre/whatisdot.html

One-sentence description.

“Getting Our Tactics Right: Lessons from the Calgary G8 Mobilization,” by Starhawk, July 2002, 7 p.

http://www.starhawk.org/activism/activism-writings/tacticsright.html

Confrontation and disruption are essential aspects of effective nonviolent direct action. Yet often, now, I hear people in the movement echo the media’s assumption that an action that leads to arrest must have been violent. As a result, people who want to act nonviolently end up in safe, nonconfrontational actions that lack the power to truly confront or delegitimize the power structure.

“Turning Point,” by L.A. Kauffman, May 2001, 7 p.

http://www.sheffieldmayday.ukf.net/articles/turningpoint.htm

Quebec City felt like a turning point. Two of the main groups calling for the protest announced from the start that they would organize on the basis of “respect for a diversity of tactics.” Specifically, they committed not to renounce “violence” (always a slippery term) or to denounce any demonstrators’ methods of dissent.

“A Diversity of Tactics?” by Abby Scher, In These Times, May 28, 2001, 5 p.

http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/25/13/scher2513.html

Before Quebec, the debate about violent-versus-nonviolent tactics was pretty low-key After Quebec, there will be no way to avoid taking a stand, one way or another.

“Looking Back, Moving Forward: Sonia Shah of South End Press Interviews Michael Albert”

http://www.zmag.org/llessons.htm

One-sentence description.

“Discussion on Radical Strategy, Sabotage, and the Weathermen,” by Michael Albert

http://www.spunk.org/library/misc/sp000209.txt

One-sentence description.

“The Nonviolent Army Revisited,” by Ted Glick, Future Hope column, September 10, 2003, 4 p.

http://lists.gp-us.org/pipermail/iowa-dx/2003-September/000158.html

There are three major, complementary approaches to movement-building that are needed to achieve fundamental, systemic changes: consciousness raising about the possibility of systemic change, an independent electoral vehicle that runs candidates at all levels of the political system, and an activist, in-the-streets, mass movement.

“A Post Mortem On The Peace Movement?” by Cynthia Peters, ZNet Activism Watch, December 27, 2001, 7 p.

http://www.zmag.org/content/Activism/peters_peace_movement.cfm

The situation is desperately urgent, but the only possible response is the painstaking work of educating people, changing people’s minds, and creating channels for social change.

“Five Guidelines for Our Organizing,” by Cynthia Peters, ZNet Activism Watch, March 31, 2003, 10 p.

http://www.zmag.org/content/Activism/petersfive.cfm

One-sentence description.

“Another World is Happening,” by Dan Merkle, March 3, 2003

http://www.ippn.org/article.php?ID=sprnews03i.html

About the Third Annual World Social Forum in January 2003.

“Anarcho-syndicalism,” by Tom Wetzel, October 21, 2002

http://www.infoshop.org/texts/as_wetzel.html

One-sentence description.

“Turn Your Back On Bush: Experiments in Direct Action at the Point of Assumption,” by Doyle Canning, ZNet, March 12, 2005, 8 p.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=1&ItemID=7423

Explains how the campaign used memes to challenge assumptions about power and also describes how through direct action, activists can build solidarity through sharing their stories and strategies.

“De-Colonizing the Revolutionary Imagination,” by Patrick Reinsborough, smartMeme, May 2003, 35 pages.

http://www.smartmeme.com/downloads/De-colonizingImagination.pdf

This ten part essay explores a wide range of innovative social change strategies and ideas including post-issue activism, direct action at the point of assumption, and the politics of reality.

“Robin Hood Was Right,” by Cynthia Peters, ZNet Daily Commentaries, May 28 2000

http://www.zmag.org/ZSustainers/ZDaily/2000-05/28peters.htm

One-sentence description.

“Most Soldiers are Non-Killers in Battle: The Aftermath of State Sanctioned Violence and Who It Targets,” opinion column by Heather Gray, CommonDreams.org, December 10, 2003, 7 p.

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1210-08.htm

In his fascinating book On Killing, psychologist Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman reports that throughout history, in any war, only 15% to 20% of the soldiers are willing to kill. The fact that we don’t want to kill is a thankful affirmation of our humanity. Do we really want to behaviorally modify our young men and women into professional, skilled killers?

“For 40 years, wars of the world have been lost to insurgencies,” opinion column by Eric Black, Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 18, 2007, 2 p.

http://www.startribune.com/722/story/1063595.html

In only about 35 percent of wars over the past 40 years has the side with more military might won.

“America’s Current Political Spectrum,” by Tony Brasunas, Garlic and Grass, Issue 5, 2003, 8 p.

http://www.garlicandgrass.org/issue5/intro.cfm

Public awareness, managed by the media, covers only a small slice of political thought.

“World’s Smallest Political Quiz.”

Read these pages (16 pages total):

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html Take the Quiz

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz-faq.html#faq02 Why the Quiz was Created

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz-faq.html#faq03 How the Quiz was created: a short history

The old one-dimensional categories of “right” and “left,” established for the seating arrangement of the French National Assembly of 1789, are overly simplistic for today’s complex political arrangement. Frustrated libertarians developed a more inclusive two-dimensional chart.

“The Political Compass,” December 12, 2006.

Read these pages (4 pages total):

http://politicalcompass.org/index Introduction

http://politicalcompass.org/analysis2 Analysis

Both an economic dimension and a social dimension are important factors to properly address the political landscape.

“The New Political Compass: The New Progressives are In-Front, Deep Green, Against Big Business and Globalization, and Beyond Left vs. Right,” by Paul H. Ray, Version 7.3, April, 2002.

http://www.culturalcreatives.org/Library/docs/NewPoliticalCompassV73.pdf
Read the 6-page executive summary and glance at the other 105 pages. (10 p.)

A new political constituency is emerging — the New Progressives — and the easiest way to describe them is that they are at right angles to Liberal left and Social Conservative right, and they are directly opposed to Big Business Conservatism.

“Moral Politics,” Moral Politics, Inc., 2004.

Read these pages (8 pages total):

http://www.moral-politics.com Introduction

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Home&action=Help&choice=Overview Overview

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Moral_Matrix Moral Matrix

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Moral_Dimensions Moral Dimensions

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Moral_Dimensions&action=Draw&choice=MoralDimensions.Moral_Order Moral Order

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Moral_Trends&action=Draw&choice=MoralTrends.NonConformance Nonconformance

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Moral_Trends&action=Draw&choice=MoralTrends.Conformance Conformance

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Moral_Dimensions&action=Draw&choice=MoralDimensions.Moral_Rules Moral Rules

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Moral_Trends&action=Draw&choice=MoralTrends.Interdependence Interdependence

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Moral_Trends&action=Draw&choice=MoralTrends.Independence Independence

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Political_Systems&action=Draw&choice=PoliticalSystems.All Political Systems

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Political_Systems&action=Draw&choice=PoliticalSystems.Socialism Socialism

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Political_Systems&action=Draw&choice=PoliticalSystems.Authoritarianism Authoritarianism

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Political_Systems&action=Draw&choice=PoliticalSystems.Conservatism Conservatism

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Political_Systems&action=Draw&choice=PoliticalSystems.Liberalism Liberalism

http://www.moral-politics.com/xPolitics.aspx?menu=Home&action=Test&choice=Long Test

Using a two-dimensional map of political beliefs based on George Lakoff’s analysis of moral politics, it is easier to understand how political ideologies and systems relate to one another.

“Moral Politics Map of Ideology,” Moral Politics, Inc., 2004.

http://www.moral-politics.com/xpolitics.aspx?menu=Political_Ideologies&action=Draw&choice=PoliticalIdeologies.All Read about all of the ideologies that interest you. (8 p.)

23 political ideologies mapped on the Moral Matrix.

“Profiles of the Typology Groups,” Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, May 10, 2005, 12 p.

http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=949

The 2005 Political Typology is the fourth of its kind, following on previous studies in 1987, 1994 and 1999. It classifies people into 9 groups on the basis of a broad range of value orientations rather than simply on the basis of party identification or self-reported ideology.

“Conservatism Itself,” by Robert Borosage, The American Prospect, July/August 2007, 6 p.

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=conservatism_itself Temporary address??

http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/take_back_america_our_time Different article, but many of the same points.

Each of the signature Bush follies — Iraq, Katrina, Enron, privatization of Social Security, the Terri Schiavo case, trickle-down economics that didn’t trickle — can be traced directly to conservative ideas and the conservative think tanks and ideologues that championed them. In every case, conservatism failed, not simply because of corruption or incompetence, but because of original conception. Actual existing conservatism fails because it gets the world wrong.