{"product_id":"how-we-win-isbn-9781612197531","title":"How We Win","description":"\u003cb\u003eA lifetime of activist experience from a civil rights legend informs this playbook for building and conducting nonviolent direct action campaigns\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In an era of massive worldwide protests for racial and economic justice, it is important to remember that marching is only one way to take to the streets. Protest must be supplemented with the sustained direct action campaigns that are crucial to winning major reforms. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Beginning as a trainer in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, George Lakey has spent decades helping direct action tactics flourish and succeed on the front lines of social change. Now, in this timely and down-to-earth guide, he passes the torch to a new generation of activists. Lakey looks to successful campaigns across the world to help us see what has worked, what hasn’t, and why: from choosing the right target to designing a creative campaign; from avoiding burnout within your group to building a movement of movements to achieve real progressive victories. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Drawing on the experiences of a diverse set of ambitious change-makers, \u003ci\u003eHow We Win\u003c\/i\u003e shows us the way to justice, peace, and a sustainable economy. This is what democracy looks like.“George Lakey’s \u003ci\u003eManual for Direct Action\u003c\/i\u003e was literally a lifesaver for many during the height of the struggle for Black freedom and dignity in the 1960s. \u003ci\u003eHow We Win\u003c\/i\u003e has arrived to us at another key moment in our human journey. It is a guide for our collective liberation, informed by decades of Professor Lakey’s ongoing research and teaching since the ’60s. Following these steps will indeed help us achieve a more just and humane society.” —\u003cb\u003eRev. Dr. Bernice A. King, CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “If you want to be a soldier, you can go to West Point. If you want to be a nonviolent change-maker\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003ewell, this is an awfully good place to start. George Lakey has been near the center of American resistance for decades, and so he has both remarkable stories and remarkable insights\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003enot to mention some remarkable colleagues who add their perspective to this necessary manual!” \u003cb\u003e—Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “This book is a chance to sit around the supper table with a living legend of U.S. social movements, a mentor who speaks from experience yet honors the young. His lessons and stories leave us all stronger, wiser, and more hopeful about our capacity for making a better world.” \u003cb\u003e—Nathan Schneider, author of \u003ci\u003eEverything for Everyone\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Hard-won advice for community organizers … Clear, encouraging, and potentially empowering.”\u003cb\u003e —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Lakey doesn’t make it sound easy, but he employs a reasoned, seasoned perspective to clearly convey principles of organization that have proved their value to activists worldwide.”\u003cb\u003e —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Inspiring stories of effective, successful campaigning … I recommend George Lakey’s \u003ci\u003eHow We Win.\u003c\/i\u003e”\u003ci\u003e \u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePeace News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Essential reading for anyone who seeks to contribute meaningfully to social movements … Reading it will be well worth your time. Applying its insights is even more useful.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eFriends Journal \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“George is a true elder; one that shows up to support the diverse, youth-led nonviolent direct action campaigns of today.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Sarah Nahar, scholar-activist, interspiritual theologian, direct action trainer\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Everyone who envisions a better world needs to read this book.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Margaret Flowers, MD, National Coordinator, Health Over Profit for Everyone (HOPE)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “This is, hands down, the single best book on building people-power campaigns for change. ”\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Ken Butigan, Pace e Bene\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eand Campaign Nonviolence\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “We're lucky to have mentors like George Lakey, and lucky for the many lessons and insights he shares in this book. Read it! Better yet, \u003ci\u003euse\u003c\/i\u003e it.” \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Yotam Marom, former leader in Occupy Wall Street, co-founder, IfNotNow and Wildfire Project\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"Movement-building is a craft. But since you can't get a degree as a Movement Builder, we have to make do with trial and error while learning the lessons from those who have walked this road before. That's where George Lakey comes in.\" \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Yonah Lieberman, founding member of IfNotNow.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “If you feel lost and unsure about what to do to help make positive change in our troubled times, reading this book may well provide you with a new sense of hope and purpose.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Mark and Paul Engler, authors of \u003ci\u003eThis Is An Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt Is Shaping the 21st Century\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Inspirational, practical, readable, with the distilled wisdom of generations.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Kate Evans, author of \u003ci\u003eRed Rosa\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThreads from the Refugee Crisis\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “A timely book that balances ageless organizing strategies while addressing many of today's specific challenges.”\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Kazu Haga, founder, East Point Peace Academy \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “\u003ci\u003eHow We Win\u003c\/i\u003e is both practical and visionary. It offers useful stories, tools, and tips for on-the-ground organizers while advancing how campaigns can build transformative movements.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Zein Nakhoda, Director, Training for Change, and filmmaker, \u003ci\u003eGrounded While Walls Fall\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “A powerful guide in these perilous times from a master of social change!”\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Judy Wicks, activist, entrepreneur, and author of \u003ci\u003eGood Morning, Beautiful Business\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “\u003ci\u003eHow We Win\u003c\/i\u003e doesn’t just challenge us to think big. It gives us the tools we need to win big.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Milan Rai, Co-editor, \u003ci\u003ePeace News, \u003c\/i\u003eLondon\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Every person who wants to bring about fundamental change in our society needs to read this book.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e —David Hartsough, author of \u003ci\u003eWaging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “This excellent book will give you insights through personal stories and thoughtful analyses of successful campaigns, and you will learn how ‘to win major changes rather than small reforms,’ how to move on from mere protest to ‘sustained power to force a real shift.’”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003e—Angie Zelter, co-founder of the British nonviolent direct-action network Trident Ploughshares\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “George Lakey, a respected peace worker of experience and long standing, has given us a book that deserves a place on the bookshelves of any peace-minded activist.”\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Bruce Kent, Vice-president of the UK Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “An interesting and useful contribution to the growing literature with ideas to inform and inspire present and future activists.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e —Rebecca Johnson, founding President of 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Lakey gels strategy lessons for successful nonviolent direct action into a single convenient reading with stories and tips from his lifetime of study and practical experience (ideal for study groups).”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Mary Elizabeth King, Director, James Lawson Institute\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “George Lakey distills hard-won insights from a lifetime of social movement work around racial justice, queer organizing, nuclear disarmament, civil rights, peace, environmental justice, in a staggering breadth of contexts around the world.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Joshua Kahn, Executive Director, The Wildfire Project\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “This book could not arrive at a better time for those of us who wish to overcome the political and planetary challenges before us.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Lissy Romanow, Momentum  \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “This book is a gift to progressive organizers everywhere!”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Mary Lou Finley, sociologist, co-editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Chicago Freedom Movement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eGEORGE LAKEY\u003c\/b\u003e has been active in direct action campaigns for six decades. Recently retired from Swarthmore College, where he was the Eugene M. Lang Visiting Professor for Issues of Social Change, Lakey was first arrested at a civil rights demonstration in March 1963, and his most recent arrest was on March 29, 2018, as a participant in the Power Local Green Jobs Campaign. His previous book was \u003ci\u003eViking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got It Right—and How We Can, Too.\u003c\/i\u003e He lives in Philadelphia.How We Win       INTRODUCTION WHY THIS BOOK NOW?\u003cp\u003eNonviolent direct action is a set of tactics that go outside conventional means of advocacy, like running for office, going to the courts, doing media campaigns, and the like. Community organizers sometimes call nonviolent direct action “street heat”—blocking entrances, boycotting, fasting, tree-sitting, planting gardens where a pipeline is supposed to go, and hundreds of other kinds of actions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToday, teenagers for gun control, women for equality, African Americans for safety from unaccountable police, indigenous people for respect for their land and traditions, teachers and other workers for a living wage, grandparents for climate justice, and more—millions of people—are going beyond lobbying to insist on change.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDirect action flourished in the 1960s. Martin Oppenheimer and I were then graduate sociology students active in the civil rights movement, and Marty went on to a distinguished career as a teacher and writer led by concerns for justice. In 1963, he and I noticed that some activists were learning very rapidly from others’ experience. Others were not, sometimes making mistakes that were dangerous and even fatal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith movements expanding rapidly, organizers were too busy to download their wisdom into a manual. Some groups were failing to achieve their goals not because they lacked numbers and heart but because they made needless mistakes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo assist more people to get in on the movement learning curve, Oppenheimer and I wrote \u003ci\u003eA Manual for Direct Action, \u003c\/i\u003ejust in time for the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer.1 Veteran civil rights strategist Bayard Rustin wrote the foreword. A black organizer in the South told me with a smile it was like a “first-aid handbook—what to do until Dr. King comes.” The book was picked up by other 1960s movements, too.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the past two years I’ve traveled to over 100 cities and towns in the United States, England, and Scotland with my latest book, \u003ci\u003eViking Economics.\u003c\/i\u003e2 I was asked repeatedly for a new direct action book that addressed today’s situation. On both sides of the Atlantic most people are losing ground. That’s also happening literally, in coastal areas where the seas are rising. Governmental legitimacy is declining and trust is evaporating.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s a good time to take a fresh look at what has worked in times of trouble, and share what I and my fellow activists have learned about successful campaigning that gives hope for the future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd so, what follows is a different guide from the one Marty and I wrote over 50 years ago. Then, movements operated inside a robust U.S. Empire that was used to winning its wars and a Britain that, however hesitatingly, was moving toward social democracy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, the U.S. Empire is faltering, the economy is fragile, and even some populations’ average life expectancy is declining. On the other side of the Atlantic, a dis–United Kingdom struggles with major questions of where to go from here. Wealth inequality skyrockets on both sides of the pond, and major political parties are caught in their own versions of society-wide polarization.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe goal of the book is to offer movement-building approaches that win major changes rather than small reforms. At the same time, campaigns need to involve the many participants who hope that sufficient change can come through a series of limited reforms.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn building those movements, it helps to avoid competition between direct action campaigners and those who address problems in other ways, like doing direct service and building alternatives or being policy advocates. This book helps direct action campaigners establish productive relationships with those whose contributions to the movement utilize different skill sets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI believe that building successful movements now requires fancier dancing than back in the day. This book suggests ways to accelerate movements’ learning—from their own experience and from each other. Because a movement’s learning curve depends on how healthy its organizational forms and processes are, this book is not only about strategy and tactics, but also about what goes on inside the groups that wage the struggle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne thing is easier now: creating instant mass protests. Social media’s ability to increase our power to mobilize is so dramatic that it can cause us to forget that \u003ci\u003emobilizing\u003c\/i\u003e is not the same as \u003ci\u003eorganizing.\u003c\/i\u003e Also, that one-off protests, however large, are nowhere near as powerful as sustained campaigns.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book also offers a process that supports you, with others, in setting goals that are meaningful for your group. Successful goal-setting takes into account the cultural moment and how the goal fits into the group’s larger vision.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is possible to wage campaigns that move you closer to bringing about the transformational change you want. This book gives you examples, explains their innovations, and leads you to other resources that will help you start and conduct successful campaigns.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne major resource that contributes to the spirit and information in this book is the Global Nonviolent Action Database (GNAD). While teaching at Swarthmore College between 2006 and 2014, I worked with students to launch a new, searchable source of knowledge about campaigns: the GNAD. So far, the database has published over 1,100 campaigns addressing racism, sexism, and other systematic oppressions, environmental crises, violence, dictatorship and authoritarian abuses, and more. Each case includes the unfolding narrative of the opponent’s response, what happened if violence broke out, and how various allies acted in support of the campaigns.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCampaigns in the GNAD were waged by workers, students, farmers, women, middle-class professionals, and other groups. The campaigns are given scores on degree of success, so it’s possible to note what the more successful campaigns did as compared to less successful campaigns.3 Since we placed the GNAD on the Internet it has been visited by people from almost 200 countries.\u003c\/p\u003eA DIVERSITY LENS\u003cp\u003eThis is a how-to book for people who want a diversity lens. In multiple chapters the reader will find ways of thinking and working that take into account human and cultural differences, including how injustice distorts our working together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA successful social movement includes many different styles and preferences, because to make big change the movement needs to grow and be sustainable. This book supports inclusivity and open acknowledgment of difference.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTake strategizing, for example. Strategizing is the job of developing an overall plan and calling the “moves” as the campaign encounters opportunities—and challenges from the opponent. Different traditions assign this task to a trusted individual, a small group, or a much larger group that gives a wide representation of the entire campaign.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 2016 North Dakota pipeline campaign’s decisions were made by the host group—the Sioux people who lived there. Others who gathered to participate were expected to carry out those decisions. Other campaigns seek to share decision-making with everyone. Occupy Wall Street expected to make strategic decisions through open assemblies with the cooperation of most participants.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this guide we allow for such differences by offering a set of strategy tools that have proved useful, no matter who makes strategic decisions and how they make them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the writing I’m forthright about my own politics, but the value of the book doesn’t depend on your agreement with where I stand on various issues. It’s okay to take what’s useful and forget the rest.\u003c\/p\u003eMY POLITICAL INFLUENCES\u003cp\u003eMy own politics were shaped by the civil rights movement—it was where I was first arrested, after all. I’m also struck by how often the brilliance shown in that movement has relevance for us now.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI went on to give leadership in the movement against the Vietnam war, at one point finding myself on a peace mission on a small sailing ship surrounded by hostile gunboats just off the Vietnamese coast. In the early 1970s I came out as a gay man and plunged into the LGBTQ movement while also co-founding Movement for a New Society, a network of autonomous collectives that gave training and strategy support to a variety of campaigns in that decade, including the successful struggle against nuclear power. As an ally to women and children, I co-founded Men Against Patriarchy, then drew on my working-class origins to help form a cross-class, cross-race coalition to fight President Reagan’s initiatives that stoked inequality in this country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book benefits from my learning from other movement activists in over 20 countries while facilitating workshops with Training for Change (TfC). Since I returned to academia in 2006 I saw TfC expand its facilitator team with more people of color and increase its outreach, continuing to act as a pollinator of good ideas while challenging participants to make learning breakthroughs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnother source is the reporting from movement work in multiple countries coming from \u003ci\u003eWaging Nonviolence.\u003c\/i\u003e My writing the “Living Revolution” column for that publication and encountering responses by thoughtful readers has sharpened many of the ideas in this book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI’ll often refer to lessons from today’s experience of the campaigning group I co-founded in 2009: Earth Quaker Action Team, or EQAT. It’s where I get to practice spirit-in-action. The EQAT campaigners deliberately seek to incorporate many best practices from other campaigns and also try creative experiments to meet challenges that movements face now.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Nordic countries are the global high achievers for the goals of progressive activists in the United States and United Kingdom, but a century ago they were mired in poverty and oppression. How they made their turnaround inspires me. In the 1920s and ‘30s the trajectory of the Nordics’ movements ran parallel to those of the United States and the United Kingdom, then they were able to break through to a new level. It turned out that they had advantages that enabled them to gain breakthroughs that the rest of us couldn’t achieve at the time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe can learn from the Nordics’ strategies; they took on the challenge of their divisions and the threat of their growing Nazi movements in highly creative ways. Their turnaround strategies were the focus of \u003ci\u003eViking Economics.\u003c\/i\u003e Like all movements, they made their share of mistakes. They also got some things right, and those have influenced me in writing this book.\u003c\/p\u003eCONTRIBUTORS TO THE BOOK\u003cp\u003eMovements benefit from fresh perceptions and creative initiatives. These ideas come from activists of all ages, but are especially likely to come from the young and from people with identities different from “the usual suspects.” And younger people deserve to find in movements a friendly place to grow to face tough challenges.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo walk the talk in this book, I’ve invited three activists from different generations and identities from me to contribute. They all have practical advice seasoned by in-depth experience. Daniel Hunter is an African American man who, at 37, has been campaigning for over 20 years and now mentors and trains climate change campaigners around the globe. Ryan Leitner started environmental justice campaigning during college and is now the field organizer for EQAT. Eileen Flanagan is a Quaker author from a working-class Irish background, a mother of two college students, and a teacher of online courses about nonviolent direct action.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of the things we share is a view of campaigning as more than a technology. We present ways of working that don’t burn people out, ways that support campaigners to be the best human beings they can be.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhether a particular campaign wins or loses, the people waging the campaign can win in their own sense of power and take their lessons forward to win the next time. Campaigns, because they take place over time, provide a container for healing and growth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe truth is, no one deserves a society that systematically violates them or treats them unjustly. Campaigns can be designed to help people gain some experience of their own deservingness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe occasional protest gives an individual the experience of taking a stand. A sustained campaign adds support and increased chance of effectiveness. By staying connected and acting together over time, each person can experience both the win for social justice and an expansion of their humanity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWelcome to this guide.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Melville House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303246844133,"sku":"NP9781612197531","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781612197531.jpg?v=1767729499","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/how-we-win-isbn-9781612197531","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}