We are living in a time of multiple crisis with great dangers and potential. Neoliberal economic growth and traditional political models are in crisis, with a rising far right, deepening inequality and violence, and intensifying ecological devastation. If the worst can be prevented and something new can grow from the cracks of the old, then our efforts to contest the future and build strategic alliances will be crucial.
Like plants and animals, our organisations exist within a much wider “movement ecology” which includes many different networks and ways of acting, with a longer history and looking very different in different places. Understanding ourselves in this wider context helps to think more clearly about our specific contribution, what others offer, and what wider possibilities might exist. We will explore our own movement practice and ecology to develop creative strategies for social transformation.
All too often there is a huge gap between the scale of the problems we are responding to and the limits of a single organisation. Sometimes too we see that what we do is important, but it doesn’t work in the way we want. All this can lead us into despair, cynicism or burnout. Ecology of social movements helps us to find strategic ways forward – for resilience in hard times and difficult places, for rethinking our organisation’s work, for finding unexpected allies, for taking new initiatives, for thinking about movement strategy – and for not trying to do everything ourselves.
How can we develop more powerful and effective alliances, across different organisations, social situations, places and issues that can allow us to genuinely change the situation and win against powerful opposition? How can our own organisation become more effective as part of a wider whole? And how can we find a path to social change grounded in solidarity, co-operation and debate despite our differences?
We will explore:
- How to understand the ecologies of social movements and where our organisations fit
- The life cycles of movements, our roles within them, and what we can learn from movement history
- How to build broader and deeper alliances and movements for a better world
- How does power work in society; how can it be disrupted and transformed?
- Theories of social change, what we can learn from different examples, and how and when different strategies can support each other
Learning from each other’s struggles
The course uses carefully chosen tools and theories that in our experience help organisers to develop their activism and become more effective, better networked and contribute to deeper social change. These in turn support a shared process of deeper reflection and learning in a community of exploration. This strategic orientation goes together with a commitment to emancipatory and radical learning. As the course goes on, we focus on shaping content for participants’ learning needs and creating space to hear one another.
This enables “learning from each other’s struggles”. We don’t have to rely only on discussions within our organisation or indeed mainstream sources for our ideas. The course participants and trainers bring an immense variety of movement experience and possibilities into the room. When we spend real time with our peers from different movements, countries, social situations and traditions, we learn a lot more about how and why they organise in the way they do. We get perspective on our own approaches and learn how to work better across our many differences and across distance.
The facilitators are experienced activists and movement trainers. We make every effort to work across language barriers, to support people who are intimidated or alienated by formal spaces, to challenge oppressive behaviour and to support marginalised and excluded activists. The centre-point of this course is movements’ own practical thinking and learning in the struggle for social change and to create new ways of relating to one another in that struggle.
We practice holistic education, using the body and emotions as well as mind, learning through play as well as talk, using small-group spaces and problem-oriented learning, developing friendships and deep listening in a space of practical solidarity. This variety meets participants’ very different learning styles and provides a rich and enjoyable experience.
Ecology of Social Movements is a Ulex flagship course which we have run in various versions and places since 2018. It has been a key inspiration for the Movement Learning project and other initiatives. Participants tell us that it is personally transformative, creates new friendships, helps them relate differently to their work – and has helped their organisations and networks create new alliances, find new possibilities and move their movements forward.
Who is it aimed at?
Anyone involved in socially engaged action on environmental, political and social justice issues who holds leadership positions. We embrace a broad definition of activism, including: Resistance – action preventing further damage to ecosystems and social justice; Renewal – action focused on developing and creating alternatives for healthier societies and communities; and Building Resilience – action supporting increased resilience in communities to weather the uncertain times ahead.
Participants should:
- Have significant movement experience and engagement
- Be open to deep and critical thinking in solidarity with others
- Be embedded in organisations or networks that they can bring their strategic learning back to
- Discuss with your group why you’re going and what strategic problems need work
The main spoken language on the course will be English.
The course starts with you doing a bit of preparatory work, collecting some materials from your movement and reflecting on your key strategic problems. We will set up a forum with other course participants to support good follow-up and continue sharing our experiences with each other as we carry our learning back into our day to day work.
Venue
The training will involve around 40 participants and be hosted at a cooperative social project near Manressa in Catalunya.