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Miles government policies popular with Queenslanders: poll

 — Organisation: The Australia Institute — 

As opinion polls suggest the Miles Labor Government is closing the gap on the Liberal National Opposition ahead of this Saturday’s state election, new research from The Australia Institute reveals most Queenslanders support cost of living, environmental and reproductive rights policies.

The research follows existing Australia Institute polling research which finds most Australians support proven but politically controversial policies from the Australian Capital Territory.

How the Federal Government represents you – The Way In

 — Organisation: Per Capita — 

In The Way In, Per Capita’s researchers look at the 47th Australian Parliament and ask whether it represents the Australian society it is meant to reflect.

Representation matters. Diversity in Parliament is important as it helps ensure those in power pursue an agenda that addresses the various and unique needs of the many different groups that make up Australian society whether they’re from different generations, socioeconomic and ethnic groups, genders, and beyond.

Move Forward and Break (Some) Rules

 — Organisation: Strong Towns — 

Campaigning in the manosphere

 — Organisation: The Australia Institute — 

On this episode of After America, Dr Prudence Flowers, Senior Lecturer in US History at Flinders University, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss immigration, reproductive rights, and why Harris and Trump are hitting the podcast circuit.

This discussion was recorded on Monday 21 October 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

1800RESPECT is the national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service. Call 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732, chat online or video call via their website.

Guest: Prudence Flowers, Senior Lecturer in US History, Flinders University // @FlowersPGF

Host: Emma Shortis, Senior Research for International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Show notes:

‘Republicans once championed immigration in the US. Why has the party’s rhetoric – and public opinion – changed so dramatically?’ by Prudence Flowers, The Conversation (October 2024)

Mindset Shifts: What are They? Why do they Matter? How do they Happen?

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

A report from the FrameWorks Institute, Mindset Shifts: What Are They? Why Do They Matter? How Do They Happen?, explores the best practices and most effective strategies for moving mindsets.

This report is intended as a resource for all those working on and funding mindset shifts.

Mindsets—fundamental, assumed patterns of thinking that shape how we make sense of the world and act in it—are highly durable with deep historical roots. They emerge from and are tied to social practices and institutions that are woven into the very fabric of society. As such, they tend to change slowly.

The research yields clear lessons and recommendations for how advocates, activists, funders, and other practitioners can maximize the impact of their efforts to change how we think about social issues in order to change the contexts and structures that shape our experiences and realities.

The report is organized as follows:

How Do Other Fields Think About Narrative? Lessons for Narrative Change Practitioners

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

This report offers eight lessons about narrative—provided by luminaries in marketing and advertising, entertainment media/narrative arts, psychoanalysis, and technology—which can be applied to enrich narrative change work.

Contents

Introduction 3
Eight Lessons 5
1: Empathy 5
2: Momentum 7
3: Complexity 9
4: Experience 12
5: Participation 14
6: Attention 17
7: Aspiration 18
8: Distance 19
References 21
About FrameWorks 22

8 Lessons

See the full report to learn more about the 8 lessons. Each lesson looks at the two following elements –

  • What does this mean for narrative change work?
  • How to put this into practice

The 8 Lessons discovered about narrative are:

Funding Narrative Change, Power and Systems

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

What are the best ways to fund and support narrative change, power and systems? Here is a collection of resources including indepth reports, podcasts and recent articles with insights and recommendations.

This is a living list please contact us if you have any related resources to add.

Resources

Reports

Funding Narrative Change: An Assessment and Framework by the Convergence Partnership
2022, Mik Moore, Rinku Sen, Convergence Partnership

Shortlist For The 2024 Australian International Political Economy Network (AIPEN) Richard Higgott Journal Article Prize

 — Publication: Progress in Political Economy — 

The selection committee for the Australian International Political Economy Network (AIPEN) Richard Higgott Journal Article Prize is pleased to announce the shortlist for the 2024 prize, as voted on by AIPEN members.

The prize will be awarded to the best article published in 2023 (online early or in print) in international political economy (IPE) by an Australia-based scholar.

The prize defines IPE in a pluralist sense to include the political economy of security, geography, literature, sociology, anthropology, post-coloniality, gender, finance, trade, regional studies, development and economic theory, in ways that can span concerns for in/security, poverty, inequality, sustainability, exploitation, deprivation and discrimination.

The overall prize winner will be decided from the shortlist by the selection committee, which this year consists of Ainsley Elbra (USyd), Claire Parfitt (USyd), Tim DiMuzio (UoW), Annabel Dulhunty (ANU), and Wenting He (ANU). The winner will be announced in November 2024.

The 2024 shortlist for The Australian International Political Economy Network (AIPEN) Richard Higgott Journal Article Prize is as follows:

Inaction “not an option” after damning report into the state of Tasmania’s environment

 — Organisation: The Australia Institute — 

The Australia Institute led the push for the publication of the report in 2022.

It has been a month since the 2024 report was published and yet there has been no official response from Tasmania’s Government.

According to the 2024 report, the state government needs to commit to a new vision and strategy for the environment.

If Tasmania is to have a healthy environment, which is fundamental to the state’s economy and Tasmanian way of life, government inaction is not an option.

The post Inaction “not an option” after damning report into the state of Tasmania’s environment appeared first on The Australia Institute.

Prosper Slams Allan Labor Government’s Land Value Giveaway

 — Organisation: Prosper Australia — 
Prosper Australia has expressed strong concerns over the Allan Labor Government’s recent announcement of 50 new activity centres across Victoria, citing the absence of any form of Land Value Capture (LVC) mechanism as a missed opportunity to ensure fairness and economic sustainability.

Disarming Disinformation: Combatting the Threat to Freedom

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

Disinformation has been spreading like wildfire in Australia’s democracy. How can we combat it?

Watch this video of a forum featuring 3 case studies of disinformation. This forum was hosted by PEN Melbourne and NonFiction Lab on the 15 August 2024 in Naarm/Melbourne.

It featured the Legal Director from the Human Rights Law Centre, Alice Drury, in conversation with three experts who examined how disinformation is operating across the world. The case studies were:

Political Economy Through Speculative Fiction: The Case of New York 2140

 — Publication: Progress in Political Economy — 

To mark PPE@10 this feature continues a series of posts to celebrate ten years of Progress in Political Economy (PPE) as a blog that has addressed the worldliness of critical political economy issues since 2014. 

The experimental world of speculative fiction is like a history of political economy. It explores topics like dystopias, post-scarcity, automation, and AI. But it doesn’t stop there! It also dives into radical ideas like abolishing money and property, imagining a world where cash is irrelevant and owning property is no longer the ultimate goal. On the flip side, you’ve got speculative fiction that embraces the techno-optimistic visions of Silicon Valley capitalism, full of shiny gadgets and smart tech. This fresh take on ‘how we could do things differently’ isn’t just for daydreaming; it’s a powerful way to shake up traditional economic ideas and imagine what future societies might look like.

The Liberal’s plan to boost housing is just a $5bn gift to property developers

 — Organisation: The Australia Institute — 

This week we saw once again efforts to improve housing affordability by doing anything other than actually building new houses.

The Liberal Party has announced that it will boost the housing supply by not actually building any new homes, but spending $5bn on “critical enabling infrastructure”.

The Opposition leader stated an “elected Coalition Government will commit $5 billion to get these projects moving, unlocking up to 500,000 homes to be delivered more quickly through a mixture of grants and concessional loans”.

It does not take long to realise this is just a $5bn gift to developers disguised as a housing policy.

Rather than spend $5bn building new homes over 5 years (which would almost be double what is currently spent building residential homes by the public sector across Australia), instead the Liberal Party proposes spending $5bn over 5 years to allow property developers to build infrastructure so that they can then sell land for a greater profit.

10/21/2024 Market Update

 — Organisation: Applied MMT — 

Feminist Influencing Basket of Resources

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

Whether you are an organiser, a curator or a participant, this Feminist Influencing Basket of Resources is intended to guide you through proven tools and exercises.

The resource is a go-to guide on ways of working and engaging at different levels using an intersectional, feminist, participatory approach, where women, gender non-binary and marginalised or silenced groups can:

  • Unpack power dynamics through personal and collective reflection, learning and action to strengthen collective power.
  • Propose an ethic of care through practical feminist rituals for safety, wellbeing, vulnerability, and creation of safe spaces.
  • Enhance feminist narratives in joint actions to create “a bigger us”.
  • Design practical feminist influencing strategies and actions.
  • Use feminist, participatory monitoring, evaluation and action learning.

The resource aims to make visible the many systems of oppression, understand how they reinforce and support each other, and strengthen strategies to challenge them together and separately using the Feminist Influencing Basket.

The Dueling Intraday Demands on Reserves

 — Organisation: Federal Reserve Bank of New York — Publication: Liberty Street Economics — 

A Closer Look at Five Successful Years of Housing Rehab in Detroit

 — Organisation: Strong Towns — 

This article was originally published, in slightly different form, on Alex Alsup’s Substack, The Chargeback. It is shared here with permission. All images were provided by the author.

Pro-Democracy Organizing against Autocracy in the United States: A Strategic Assessment & Recommendations

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

This study by Erica Chenoweth and Zoe Marks, Pro-Democracy Organizing against Autocracy in the United States: A Strategic Assessment & Recommendations, explores nonviolent resistance strategies that could be relevant for protecting local communities and groups under a hypothetical authoritarian administration. The study delves into the next phase of pro-democracy struggle and recommends a four-pronged strategy that can ensure ongoing, effective pro democratic mobilization even if a nationwide authoritarian transition takes place.

Executive Summary

Many groups in the US are focused on preventing the further rise of authoritarian forces by raising alarms about authoritarian power-grabs in key states; by building financial, legal, and electoral strategies to advocate for democratic practices and outcomes in state and national politics; and by scenario-planning responses to contested election outcomes in 2022 and 2024.

This urgent and important work must continue and intensify in the coming months. This report aims to expand the conversation to also prepare for effective organizing and mobilizing in the aftermath of a nationwide authoritarian transition, should one occur after the 2024 election.

Lived Experience Guide to Climate Campaigning

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

The Lived Experience Guide to Climate Campaigning provides guidance to organisations seeking to campaign with people with lived experience of climate impacts.

This guide aims to introduce concepts, practices and guidelines that can be used by organisations when they work with people with lived experience and when designing communications and campaigns. It was developed with input from climate-impacted people as well as advocates, psychologists and campaigners with experience in supporting people with lived experience to be storytellers and change agents.

As we experience escalating disasters and extreme weather we are yet again reminded that Australia is on the front line of climate change. Climate impacted people are experts in how climate change has impacted them/us and their/our communities and can be powerful advocates for change and action. In supporting people with lived experience of climate change, there are a range of important considerations that lead to better outcomes while minimising harm.

If you would like to contribute (including examples) please contact Serena Joyner on ceo@bushfiresurvivors.org

Running a Street Stall

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

Holding a stall is a great way to engage with people face to face about your campaign issues. Stalls allow you to raise awareness of issues and can help you recruit supporters for your campaign and group.

To get the most out of your stall, it is worth putting some thought into planning it to ensure its effectiveness. Try these tips to get you started.

Tips

1. Decide your Aims and Message

Ask yourself:

  • why are you doing the stall?
  • What is the message you hope to get across about your campaign?
  • Do you want to recruit supporters for your group, or get people to take action? It may be both of these.

Identify the main reason for your stall and focus on that.

2. Design an eye catching display

Take some time to think about how you want your stall to look. Maybe use display boards, posters, fliers, props and costumes.

Take things that focus on your campaign but make sure not to clutter your stall as this can overwhelm people. Have fun and be creative!

Campaign Strategy: Start Here

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

In a nutshell, campaigns are sustained efforts at a specific social justice goal. Campaigns are a powerful way of strategically building the capacity, developing experience, and laying the groundwork for future movements. Simultaneously, campaigns win solid victories for social justice. – Daniel Hunter

Strategy is the art and practice of developing effective plans of action to achieve objectives and win campaigns. This guide highlights a number of resources which are contained in the Commons Social Change Library.

If you are new to the topic then you may want to start by checking some of the introductory resources listed below. After that it may be helpful to choose a strategy template to guide you through the process of planning. Depending on your approach to change, the manuals listed can provide a comprehensive immersion in that approach, with a number of tools you can use and lessons you can apply. 

If you’ve been involved in campaigns for a long time perhaps you might like to try some individual tools to get a fresh perspective, experiment with the guides to creative and systemic thinking, or dig deeper with the books.

Seminar: Ben Spies-Butcher, ‘Politics, Inequality and the Australian Welfare State After Liberalisation’

 — Publication: Progress in Political Economy — 

Politics, Inequality and the Australian Welfare State After Liberalisation

Speaker: Ben Spies-Butcher

Thursday 7 November 2024, 12-1:30pm

Room 441, Social Sciences Building (A02), The University of Sydney

Neoliberalism has transformed work, welfare and democracy. However, its impacts, and its future, are more complex than we often imagine. Alongside growing inequality, social spending has been rising. This seminar draws on Ben’s recent book to ask how we understand this contradictory politics and what opportunities exist to create a more equal society. It argues an older welfare state politics, driven by the power of industrial labour, is giving way to political contests led by workers within the welfare state itself. Advancing more equal social policy, though, requires new forms of statecraft, or ways of doing policy, as well as new models of organising.

Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

Introducing Erica Chenoweth’s book Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know. This book is a “sweeping overview of civil resistance movements around the world that explains what they are, how they work, why they are often effective, and why they can fail.

Civil resistance is a method of conflict through which unarmed civilians use a variety of coordinated methods (strikes, protests, demonstrations, boycotts, and many other tactics) to prosecute a conflict without directly harming or threatening to harm an opponent. Sometimes called nonviolent resistance, unarmed struggle, or nonviolent action, this form of political action is now a mainstay across the globe. It was been a central form of resistance in the 1989 revolutions and in the Arab Spring, and it is now being practiced widely in Trump’s America. If we are going to understand the manifold protest movements emerging around the globe, we need a thorough understanding of civil resistance and its many dynamics and manifestations.

Narrative Power and Collective Action: Conversations with People Working to Change Narratives for Social Good

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

‘Narrative power and collective action’ is a collection of curated conversations between Isabel Crabtree-Condor, a Knowledge Broker at Oxfam, and a diverse group of people working in the narrative change and collective action space.

Part 1

Narratives are a form of power that can mobilize and connect, as well as divide and isolate. Social, public or dominant narratives help to legitimize existing power relationships, prop them up or make them seem natural.

As an anthology of perspectives this knowledge offering is one way to amplify different and diverse ways of knowing and doing narratives. Narratives are made up of many stories, tweets, online content, offline conversations. They keep deeply held ideas about society and people in place, for good and bad.

Narratives are not something that happen over there, they are part of us and we are part of them. We can challenge or reinforce narratives on daily basis. We see powerful damaging narratives at work in the COVID-19 response, and in systems of oppression that perpetuate inequality.

We can use this knowledge to guide us now and as we move into the future. Narrative knowledge and framing know-how can help us to open civic space, collaborate better and amplify others, helping us to be part of the biggest ‘us’ we can be.

Conversation Tips for Stalls, Events & Door Knocking

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

Here are some tips to get the most out of conversations on stalls, at events, or door knocking. Whether you are looking to recruit people, build your contact list, or encourage people to take action here are some basic guidelines.

Initiate contact!

Through activities like stalls and handing out leaflets we are seeking to interact with as many people as possible.

If we sit back and wait for people to come to us, we will miss many opportunities. This isn’t about being a nuisance, but it is about being active and initiating contact with people. We have something important to talk to them about.

If we sit back and wait for people to come to us, we will miss many opportunities. This isn’t about being a nuisance, but it is about being active and initiating contact with people. We have something important to talk to them about.

When setting up a stall consider standing in the front or to the side of it, rather than behind. As people walk past you could step towards them, or walk with them (without being intimidating).

Have a friendly greeting which introduces you and what you are doing eg

Australia’s gas policy mess | Fact Sheet

 — Organisation: The Australia Institute — 

Exports and prices

Gas production in Australia has tripled since 2010, but domestic consumption has barely changed. This means that around 80% of gas produced in Australia is exported.

Gas export terminals opened at Gladstone in Queensland in late 2014. This meant that for the first time, gas could be exported from Australia’s east coast, giving gas companies the option to sell Australian gas into higher-priced Asian markets. This, in turn, meant that Australians suddenly had to pay world prices for domestically-produced gas.

Suddenly, Australian wholesale prices tripled from $3 per gigajoule (GJ) to $10 per GJ, and often rose even higher.

The Choice this Election is between Corporate and Oligarchic Power

 — Author: Chris Hedges — 

Limiting Housing Is Actually Causing All That Traffic

 — Organisation: Strong Towns — 

A slightly different version of this piece can be found on the author’s blog. All images were provided by the author.

Shifting the Narrative: What it Takes to Reframe the Debate for Social Justice in the US

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

Since the 2016 election, interest in the concept of “narrative” has spiked in the nonprofit and philanthropic worlds. There exists a growing consensus among people committed to social justice that traditional change efforts like organizing, advocacy, and litigation cannot be fully effective or lasting unless they are integrated with a narrative change strategy. Definitions of what narrative means vary greatly, and the art and craft of changing it can seem mysterious. But experience and research point to clear, replicable approaches for reshaping public narratives in support of social justice.

What is Narrative and Why does it Matter?

At The Opportunity Agenda, we define narrative as “a Big Story, rooted in shared values and common themes, that influences how audiences process information and make decisions.”  Narratives are conveyed in the political and policy discourse, but also in news media, popular culture, social media, and at dinner tables across communities.

As recent experience shows, many audiences are invulnerable to facts that do not fit within a narrative that they can understand and embrace.

TWIBS: Cass Receives Peerage for Bad Science

 — Publication: Assigned Media — 
 

It appears the second most vile transphobe in Britain has been rewarded for her evil maneuvers with… nobility? Sure. Sick. Cool!

Changing Our Narrative About Narrative: The Infrastructure Required for Building Narrative Power

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction 

The culture of the progressive sector—as with all sectors—is rooted in stories. They are stories that convey values, mental models, assumptions and identities, all of which ultimately guide our behaviors.

Unsurprisingly, the most powerful stories that define the culture of our sector are not the stories about the issues we work on, but rather the stories we tell ourselves about who we are (and aren’t) and how we should act in the world to make change (and shouldn’t).                    

Narrative is now a big buzzword in the field of social change. That is more a testament to people wanting to understand narrative, however, than it is a testament to people actually understanding it.

Evaluating our overall approach to narrative, as well as the specific narrative changes we have determined to achieve, comes down to a foundational question:

What is our own narrative about the role that narrative strategy plays in social change—our own narrative about what it is, what it takes to do it well and what’s at stake in our success? We tell ourselves a story about storytelling, a narrative about changing narratives. What purpose is it serving? Is it the right narrative? Is it the one we need?

I believe we have the wrong narrative about narrative.

Burn the Planet and Lock Up the Dissidents - Read by Eunice Wong

 — Author: Chris Hedges — 

Text originally published Oct. 06, 2024

Subscribe now

Tracking Reserve Ampleness in Real Time Using Reserve Demand Elasticity

 — Organisation: Federal Reserve Bank of New York — Publication: Liberty Street Economics — 

A Requiem for the River Arts District

 — Organisation: Strong Towns — 

This article was originally published, in slightly different form, on the author’s substack onHousing. It is shared here with permission. All images were provided by the author.

The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...Advocating for Safer Streets

 — Organisation: Strong Towns — 

From Relic to Indispensable: How the Federal Reserve Nearly Gave Up Its Emergency Lending Powers in 1967

 — Author: Nathan Tankus — Publication: Notes on the Crisis — 
From Relic to Indispensable: How the Federal Reserve Nearly Gave Up Its Emergency Lending Powers in 1967

The Federal Reserve’s most expansive lending authority- supposedly activated only under “unusual and exigent circumstances”- continues to be an essential interest of mine. Writing about it is what I became known for, back in 2020. Why is it so important? Because it is an extremely flexible and powerful power, there has been little oversight over how it's interpreted and what its limits are and we still don’t really know its secret history. The 1967-1973 minutes I got through FOIA are revelatory and fascinating. We still have to address a large gap between 1974, and sometime in the 2000s (if not later). Nevertheless, the minutes still have so much to teach us. Perhaps the most shocking thing I have come across in the minutes is that the Federal Reserve very nearly got rid of its own emergency powers.

You’re gonna be the one that saves me: Albo’s dynamic pricing crackdown

 — Organisation: The Australia Institute — 

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg and Elinor discuss the government’s crackdown on hidden fees, dynamic pricing and why reducing gender disparities can lead to better pay and fewer worker shortages.

Greg Jericho is Chief Economist at the Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work and popular columnist of Grogonomics with Guardian Australia. Each week on Dollars & Sense, Greg dives into the latest economic figures to explain what they can tell us about what’s happening in the economy, how it will impact you and where things are headed.

Host: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute and Centre for Future Work // @GrogsGamut

Host: Elinor Johnston-Leek, Senior Content Producer, the Australia Institute // @ElinorJ_L

Show notes:

‘Here’s a way to fix Australia’s skills shortage – and raise wages at the same time’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (October 2024)

The way we disagree

 — Organisation: The Australia Institute — 

On this episode of Follow the Money, Paul Bongiorno, columnist for The Saturday Paper and The New Daily, joins Ebony Bennett to discuss culture wars in Australia, two upcoming elections, and the reaction to Anthony Albanese’s new beachside retreat.

This discussion was recorded live on Tuesday 15 October 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Guest: Paul Bongiorno, columnist, The Saturday Paper and The New Daily // @PaulBongiorno

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebony_bennett

Show notes:

‘Dutton takes a high-risk stance on the Middle East’ by Paul Bongiorno, The Saturday Paper (October 2024)

Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

Robert Fisk and the Great War for Civilization (w/ Lara Marlowe) | The Chris Hedges Report

 — Author: Chris Hedges — 

This interview is also available on podcast platforms and Rumble.

There is a careful art to good journalism. It involves not only seeing and writing what happens but also understanding the reason why, and the precedent that came before it. Empathy, combined with a cunning understanding of one’s environment and ability to talk to people are crucial instruments for a reporter hoping to get the whole story — not just the headline a paper may seek. Joining host Chris Hedges is Lara Marlowe, journalist and author, to talk about how her former husband and colleague Robert Fisk encapsulated all of that in his years as a journalist and writer and how his work, specifically his book "The Great War for Civilization,” serves as one of the West’s great tools in understanding the modern Middle East.

Transparency Summit blows the whistle on Australia’s culture of secrecy

 — Organisation: The Australia Institute — 

Integrity experts, academics and parliamentarians gather in Canberra today for the Australia Institute’s Transparency Summit: Secrecy is not security, held in collaboration with the Human Rights Law Centre, Whistleblower Justice Fund, Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom and Transparency International Australia.

The Transparency Summit connects those have been stonewalled – and explain why open government and public access to information is more important than ever in a world of AI-generated deepfakes, election denial and democratic backsliding.

LGB Alliance Conference Disrupted by Crickids

 — Publication: Assigned Media — 
 

Activist organization Trans Kids Deserve Better have topped their previous sit-in by disrupting an anti-trans activist conference with… six thousand crickets!

Charlie McNeill

 — Organisation: The Equality Trust — 

Charlie has a varied background supporting communities at the sharp end of inequalities. With work across the mental health and wellbeing sector in Berkshire and Birmingham, Charlie has directly supported citizens in their daily, often complex, challenges. While also working on projects to uplift their vital voices of lived experience to instigate change in the systems […]

The post Charlie McNeill appeared first on Equality Trust.

Repeat: A Warning From History, with Dennis Glover

 — Organisation: Per Capita — 

Are we about to see history repeat?

‘Do you ever stop and ask, ‘Is it all going to happen again?’ —Siegfried Sassoon

We live in an age that seems eerily familiar. A time of dictators, populists, organised lying, European wars, grabs for territory, ideological extremism and even antisemitism, a time when things are falling apart and the centre is struggling to hold. It has all happened before, in the 1920s and ’30s. History is sending us a warning, and unless we heed it, history will have its revenge as we repeat the disaster of the 1940s.

The world needs to learn the lessons of these decades, and fast. Dennis Glover retells the story of the interwar years in a series of lessons drawn from unfolding events and the unheeded omens of those who spoke out but were ignored.

An urgent, surprising and altogether persuasive read, Repeat: A Warning from History will open your eyes.

– – – – – – – –

Dennis Glover was educated at Monash and Cambridge universities and has made a career as one of Australia’s leading speechwriters. His first novel, The Last Man in Europe, was published around the world in multiple editions and was nominated for several literary prizes, including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. His second novel, Factory 19, was published in 2020, and his third, Thaw, in 2023. His book-length essay An Economy Is Not A Society was published in 2015.

10 Suburbs That Are More City-Like Than Cities

 — Publication: CityNerd — 

What Is the Strong Towns Response to Natural Disasters?

 — Organisation: Strong Towns — 

The Phantom Freeway That Won’t Stop Haunting Alabama

 — Organisation: Strong Towns — 

Narrative Emergency Kit: How Should we Prepare for the Next Crisis?

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

Watching tragedy unfold in Ukraine, I have been thinking about the powerful, rapid, and often unexpected impact that major, shocking events can have on narratives that underpin our understanding of the world.

While narrative and culture change work tends to take years, events have the power to bring about rapid change, often in unexpected ways. 

In 2011 the Fukushima nuclear disaster changed the conversation about nuclear power. It still resonates more than a decade later. The murder of George Floyd sparked a global protest and placed policing and structural racism at the top of the public agenda.

Storytelling and Social Change: A Guide for Activists, Organizations and Social Entrepreneurs

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

This guide is for anyone who wants to create social change, and who wants to learn how storytelling can help.

The guide is divided into four color-coded sections.

  • The STRATEGY section is about how to use storytelling to best effect.
  • The STORYTELLING section offers ideas on how to tell a good story.
  • The METHODS section covers some techniques in storytelling.
  • And the STRUCTURE section looks at how to incorporate storytelling into your everyday work.

Contents

INTRODUCTION

  • About this guide 1
  • Introduction 2

STRATEGY

  • Why tell stories for social change? 4
  • How do we develop a storytelling strategy? 6
  • How is storytelling used for social change? 8
  • Where can we tell stories? 9
  • How do we do research to support our storytelling? 10
  • How do we reach new audiences? 12
  • How can we piggyback on pop culture? 14
  • How do we balance short-and long-term storytelling? 16
  • How do we make stories actionable? 18
  • How do we combine the personal and the political? 20

STORYTELLING

Conditions to Flourish: Understanding the Ecosystem for Narrative Power

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

This document paints a picture of the ecosystem of actors who are working to build narrative power in movements, as well as of the movements themselves. The picture shows different groupings – or kinds of actors – within this ecosystem and the relationships and interconnections between them.

It seeks to include actors within movements who we believe are at the heart of narratives work, and not only those practitioners who are helping to develop and disseminate narratives.

It takes a cross-movement perspective: reflecting the breadth of our process as well as the widespread appetite for collaboration across movements around narratives. It also seeks to take a global perspective, looking outside any particular country. Most importantly, it highlights what practitioners and members of movements are themselves saying about the contexts in which they are operating and what they need.

This is a perspective that we believe is too often missing from analysis of this ecosystem. This picture is, ultimately, based around a vision of what a healthy, just and successful ecosystem for narratives work could be.

This is one where the key actors have strong relationships; are able to align their efforts when they need to; are resourced for the long run; and where they are able to share and benefit from the learning that they are collectively generating.

Make Your Training Work for Neuro Spicy Brains

 — Organisation: The Commons Social Change Library — 

Introduction

I’m an organiser and a trainer who is also the parent of two Neurodivergent children and on my own journey of discovery about my own brain. I want to share a few ideas and general supports to encourage people to set up training spaces that are supportive of neurodivergent brains.

These measures don’t take a lot to put in place but they can make a big difference to a person who has probably spent a lot of their life masking to fit into neurotypical worlds. It is by no means a full list of what works for all people and I am by no means an expert in all the best supports a neurodivergent person may need, but there are lots of resources out there if you want to find out more.

The best place is to start by asking someone what would support them in the situation.

Setting up training spaces that are affirming of neurodivergent people, allows everyone to show up as themselves, rather than expecting them to fit into a space that treats neurotypical as the ‘norm’. Many people have spent a lifetime masking and working out how to fit in. This can go on until they hit a breaking point (burnout) or start to discover why things have always been a struggle.

So be patient.