ACTU Event held at MUA National Office on 15 February 2019.
Hahrie Han is the Anton Vonk Professor of Political Science and Environmental Politics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She specializes in the study of civic and political participation, collective action, organizing, and social change, particularly as it pertains to social policy, environmental issues, and democratic revitalization. She has published three books: How Organizations Develop Activists: Civic Associations and Leadership in the 21st Century, Groundbreakers: How Obama’s 2.2 Million Volunteers Transformed Campaigning in America, and Moved to Action: Motivation, Participation, and Inequality in American Politics. Her award-winning work has been published in the American Political Science Review, American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, and numerous other outlets.(from http://www.hahriehan.com/about)
Introduction
- Han’s presentation was broken into three parts. The first part was ‘why power’ which examined why we, as organisers, should engage with notions of power. The second part ‘why transformation’ spoke about the differences between organising and mobilising and the links those have with power. The final part was ‘why try’ which outlines some examples of where these approaches have worked based on Han’s research.
Why Power?
- Han began by critiquing some common theories of change.
- She suggested that organisations often raise these as matters of awareness.
- That is, if we raise enough awareness, people will change their behaviour, which will lead to wider social change.
- This theory of change is based on assumptions that we are not always explicit about.
- Han’s argument is that the problems we are facing are so ‘sticky’ because they are not problems of information but actually problems of power.
- In addition, the people who want or need the change the most – don’t have the capacity to make changes.
- Capacity can be thought of in terms of motivation, resources and authority.
- Often, these resources are not all present in the group or individuals – or they are not aware that they possess these.
- Han’s theory of change: ‘Those who want the change have to work with others to acquire the resources they need to make the change they want.’
- In order to build a movement, we need to reconfigure people’s resources ot turn them into change.
- This needs us to engage with power.
- Power is a dynamic relationship that is often invisible.
- You have power over someone if you have resources that act on their interest.
- Simply having more of something is not power – rather, it is necessary to consider the context/ relationship between groups and people.
- When thinking about power, it’s not about simply making a change: it’s about changing the question of who sits at the table.
- ‘Power with’ vs ‘power over’
Why Transformation?
- Han began this section by considering how do we engage people in ways that actually build power.
- Based on her research into environmental orgs. In the US.
- Many feel that it is easier than ever before to ‘get people out’ – but we feel more powerless than ever before.
- Han – identified Lone Wolves, Transactional Mobilisers, Transformational Organisers
- Lone Wolf – works alone, makes change through sheer personal effort. Tiring. Inefficient.
- Mobilisers -> look at breadth and scale. Transactioanal.
- Organisers -> seek to develop leaders and cultivate agency.
- How do we develop leaders? Move them up the ladder (Fig. 1) by putting them in experiences where they are in relationships with others.
Why try?
- Some evidence suggests that building a social movement depends on building an ethos of radical welcoming.
- ‘You might not agree with us, but you’re part of our people’.
- Relies on knowing who your people are.
- Studies on pro-life groups.
- ‘You belong before you believe.’
- Mobilising – strategy for power = more numbers. Structure = central responsibility. Types of asks = independent. Communications = marketing.
- Organising – strategy for power = transformative leaders. Structure = distributed responsibility. Types of asks = interdependent. Communications = relationships.
Mobilising – participants self select their position on this pyramid.
Organising – participants are developed up the pyramid.
Figure 1: Organising Pyramid