Strategy/Wikimedia movement/2017/Topics/Social movements

This page documents a topic of interest to the 2017 movement strategy process. The information it contains may come from various sources, including research and community discussions. You are invited to contribute to summarizing the sources on this page.

Overview

The high-level summary of this topic, for inclusion in the briefing.

Social movements

We're starting a movement-wide discussion. But what exactly is a movement? What are some examples of well-known movements of different types (political, social, local/global, empowerment-based)?

Movements are purposeful & powerful ecosystems Mobilized groups, noticing inequity, organizing & taking action to seek change Some good examples include: Social - the environmental / climate preservation movement Political - the US civil rights / Black Lives Matter movements Empowerment - self-help, do-it-yourself, and microfinance movements Fizzles (more like specific protests): Occupy Wall Street)

Movement frameworks

Transformative Movements v. incremental change Lead with bold vision Embody core shared values through practice Deepen community connections Embrace strategic navigation

Collective Impact Framework A common agenda Shared measurement systems Mutually reinforcing activities Continuous communication Backbone support organizations

Social Movement Theory Collective behavior (of individuals, orgs, groups & resources) Relative deprivation & change-seeking Resource mobilization Political opportunity Social Impact

Here are 3 different approaches for evaluating movements. They are each grounded in research and experience but with different lenses.

The 1^st is from the Movement Strategy Center (Oakland, CA, USA) and has a very local, community-oriented approach; it is interested in inspiring participants to push for big transformative approaches (as opposed to smaller, more incremental activities) in order to disrupt and potentially eliminate systematic exploitation.

The 2^nd is a very current approach among established organizations for looking at - and harnessing - the value of their separate (and potentially isolated) activities in order to coordinate efforts and have a much larger collective social impact.

The 3^rd is a somewhat more academic approach for evaluating common aspects of social movements, with the notable political angle called out. All 3 of these “models” of movement evaluation can help us see important elements of our own “free knowledge” movement and help inspire ways to potentially optimize it.

Sub-topic 2

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See also

Related topics

Further reading

Other works and sources particularly relevant to this topic, including external links