Activism Course e-book / booklet

Available for free online viewing or printing to read offline, this booklet contains much of what was covered in the Fall 2011 Activism Course: Building a Better World. Also features four appendices and a full page of additional resources with links.

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  View e-book (PDF)

• PDF version for easy printing
• PDF version to print/fold into ‘zine’ booklet form (print doublesided ‘flip on short edge’)

 

Table of Contents:

• About the course
• About this booklet (and, Session #0)
• Session #1: Introductory exercises / values / going deeper
• Session #2: Change activities that work…
• Session #3: Concept brainstorming
• Session #4: Community Organizing with Joan Kuyek
• Session #5: Back to the values / even deeper
• Appendix A: Book review – Community Organizing
• Appendix B: Postive Learning Environments
• Appendix C: Case Study – Independent Media Organizing
• Appendix D: Edge-U-cation
• Resource List: Links / Books / Podcast / Videos
• Final Remarks: A bit about the Pedagogy / Andragogy

 

About the course:

This course is to help participants develop a strategic approach and understanding to dealing with various issues/situations in their communities and the larger world. We will explore the problems and opportunities that come up in groups working to bring about change.

It’s about creating a space where people can explore what’s important to them — contributing their knowledge and experience — and they can be assisted in doing so through some structure/direction/things to think about.

Some of the questions that inspired this course:

• What issues are important to you, and why? How can you develop a deeper understanding around them?
• How can you best take action? How can you ensure that action is both rewarding and contributes to your personal growth, while still making a positive difference?
• What makes some groups more effective than others? Is a group’s approach and perspective in alignment with your own? How can you best fit in a group’s work?
• How do we keep a clear ‘larger-picture’ vision in focus while working on the concrete ‘on-the-ground’ steps towards that vision?

 

About the course facilitator / author:

Currenly a member of both IPSMO (Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa) and Organizing For Justice, Greg Macdougall has written and done multi-media work for outlets such as The Dominion, Linchpin, and rabble.ca. He has facilitated workshops on topics such as media activism, Indigenous solidarity, systemic racism, environmental justice, outreach & recruitment, education, sexual health, conflict resolution, and more.