Activists and long terms activists.

One of the continuing practical problems which all campaigning groups face is not enough activists. We all moan about it, or have heard others moan about it, but very few people know how we might encourage any kind of long term activism.

The problem being that a lot of protest activities are reactive to events, while there are only a very small number of individuals who have the time or energy to engage in to long term, day by week by month by year by years by decades activism.

Thus we can land up with: –

A very small number of long term activists within a number of very small groups.

or

A large number of activists who do a lot in a short period of time, but burn themselves out within a period of a year to 18 months.

Neither of which makes for an ideal situation.

Activists, research. and articles.

It should also be kept in mind that building activist knowledge is only possible because of spending a lot of time reading many different reports, books, newspapers, periodicals, newsletters, and by viewing a lot of websites.

That’s something which very few people have the time to do.

Thus the long activists tend only to network with other long term activists, as it can take a while to keep explaining the same background facts time and time again.

Thus any campaigning research tends to continually fall upon a few long term activists.

While all of that research gets used by others.

Here is might be noted that there are a lot of academics who have made a career, or good living, by using the knowledge gained by activists.

Good research work costs money, or at least the time to go visit many libraries on a regular basis. It also involves spending a lot of time chatting with or networking with other long term activists.

Joined Up Protests.

When it comes to some issues we have a lot of local campaigning groups with very few activists in them. Thus they are only able to organise a few events or protests a year, which in turn comes down to the same small organising group.

This might be viewed as a weakness in our campaigning options, but it can be turned around in to something of a major strength.

The first thing is to make sure that the activist within all of these small groups both advertise each others events, and make an effort to attend them.

Thus a small local event can become a much larger regional or national one.

It can be done if each of the local groups has a good travel budget. The same budget can also be used to pay for speakers to come and address local meetings.

The second option is to engage in coordinated protests.

That is lots of small pickets or leafleting sessions at the same time on the same day.

Those kind of activities do not take much time and effort to organise at a local level, but with the same leaflets / same leaflet text it makes for a much bigger event.

It is not so much a question of working towards what is sometimes referred to as being a Day of Action, but showing we are not just a few small isolated groups.

All of which turns what is our weakness in to a strength.

Best of all such events should attract individuals who have neither the time or the money to make it to Yet Another National Demonstration or March.

Long Term Short Term

Over the years I have spent many a happy hour on pickets or leafleting. It is something which needs to be done if one is involved in active campaigning.

Yet no matter what one is campaigning about, there is always a need to see it as a part of an ongoing process, as change can not be achieved in a hurry.

That is why every picket, demonstration, or leafleting session needs to be properly planned.

This is where a little campaign theory comes in to play.

Protest as A Form of Communications.

If we are demonstrating then we need to be clear about just what it is all be about, and we need to carry more than leaflets in case any passer by wishes for more information.

If we are there to make our views and information known, then it is a more of a presentation event.

It is best described as being the difference between a demonstration / picket at which leaflets are handed out as part of a protest, and a leafleting session where the prime object of the exercise is to communicate.

If one wishes to communicate, then the first time we will be there to hand out leaflets, then it might best be billed as a communication session.

It is going to be outside of the offices of an organisation one is campaigning about, then getting the right information on the leaflets is important.

That’s a way of informing those who go in to the building why we are there.

While on the second or further occasions, you can turn up with a lot more poster boards. and make it a much more visual event.

Then if they still don’t do anything about the issue, we can move on to the fun part, which might consists of street theatre, blockades, etc.

In between all of this you can also do a morning or afternoon leafleting session, which is aimed at the staff, decision makers, and advisers who work for the organisation. This is with the aim of making sure that they know just what the issues are all about.

On the other hand you can also do regular leafleting sessions just to show your concerns, and which are very much part of a larger set of campaigning aims.

For example: –  By regular leafleting sessions outside of army recruiting offices as a part of ones long term anti-militarist campaigning.

Last of all there are the support pickets outside of both embassies & consulates. These may be one off events, or ones which are done on a regular basis.

A word with Plod.

One last point to keep in mind.

Even if there seems to be no official response to your protest, then are noted, and are mentioned in the various reports which they make.

That’s why it is always a good idea to make sure to hand over a copy of the leaflet your handing out to their security, and ask that it is passed on to the right person in the building.

A cheery Good Morning as you shake them by the hand will also defuse any potential hostility they might show to you.

Just explaining that you intend to keep off any of their private land, that your purpose is to communicate, and how long you will be around can help too.

Then when plod turns up, you give then a cheery Good Morning, shake them by the hand, and tell them you have already talked with the security about what you are doing.

Now I know a lot of the comrades would never dream of doing so, but I’ve had more conversations about the issues I’ve been protesting about because of this willingness to do so than most activists could ever imagine.

[ Though I still would not advise anyone to give them more than your first name, and certainly not your date of birth. ]

Yes I know that many of these points are all very self apparent, but it is important to be clear about them in our thinking.

Leafleting sessions and pickets might note seem to be the most exciting activities, but they do build up support for any campaign we might be engaged upon.

They also give us the chance to chat with people who might not know much about the issue, and can sometimes encourage individuals to become involved in our campaigns.