So the old puzzle goes - of Theseus's ship - if you replace the mast twice, the sails thrice and every plank of the hull over time, is it STILL, after all that the "original" Theseus' ship? (and, if it isn't anymore, when did it stop being so?) Then there's Lev Vygotsky, the Russian educational... Continue Reading →
On failing to solve the January 4th 2023 problem….
Well, back in mid-2019 I wrote this Here's an excerpt January 4th 2023 is a Wednesday. There’s probably going to be a scrutiny committee meeting or two of Manchester City Council on that day. Back-bench councillors will gather to hear presentations from officers and Executive Members, and pick over reports. (In a perfect world Manchester City... Continue Reading →
The barriers to skill-sharing and what to do about them (maybe) #SocialMovements #SocialMovementPathologies
Hello, this post, inspired by this one on Friday covers some reasons why skills-sharing is so hard to do, especially in allegedly "non-hierarchical" social movement groups.. It covers why it matters, why it doesn’t happen easily, and, of course, ‘what we could do.’ I’ve tried to park my unhelpful (to other people if not myself)... Continue Reading →
Hello to new after-the-Conversation-article readers – barriers to skillsharing…
Today the Conversation posted another article of mine about Extinction Rebellion - you can read it here. I got a high profile follower out of it, and a lovely email from someone, and a media request. Anyway, if you've come here, you're probably interested in social movements, and so you're in the right place (or... Continue Reading →
“Ten Years since [the first] Climate Camp”
In 2016 some people put together a booklet to mark the ten year anniversary of the first "Camp for Climate Action." They published this among the various pieces-
Unpublished FT letter, on Just Stop Oil, Thatcher and social movements… @JustStop_Oil
Another failed letter (my one success this year was in May. See here). The excellent letter from Patricia Finney ('It's simple physics and chemistry - climate change will kill us all', FT 17 December) will hopefully give readers o the FT in high places pause for thought. There are two points I wish to clarify.... Continue Reading →
What are the complementary assets of a successful* social movement organisation?
A page on this site, about "complementary assets" has had a lot of hits in the last 24 hours. Don't know why, but it's enough of a pretext to write something. I'll say what CA are, what a social movement organisation "is", why we should care about it, what the CAs of one would be... Continue Reading →
What’s BUGging me today? #MovementPathologies
tl;dr The 'Bottom-Up' Grift (BUG) is the spinning of a line - for profit and/attention - that the true path to utopia is via 'bottom up' activity. This post defines the BUG, explains how to spot it, where it comes from, what to do about it. The Grift Making a career out of saying "we... Continue Reading →
What went wrong? Why we didn’t act on climate when we still could have done owt meaningful?
Just tweeted the following microrant - It is extraordinary. Unlike ppl who organised in far harder conditions, where dissent (or just BEING) could easily get you killed, #climate activists in the "West", with freedom of speech, assembly, information, "the science" etc etc have been not just outspent, but outplayed 1/2outthought, outfought, outACTED. Emissions keep climbing.... Continue Reading →
Of “It’s a Sin,” climate doom and demented/disinhibited masturbatory rituals
We watched "It's a Sin" the other day, all five episodes. It's the best stuff I have seen of Russell T. Davies, with many of the really cringe-inducing elements of his oeuvre gone. It's fabulously acted too - a worthy UK equivalent to the movie "Long-time Companion." It covers the period 1981 to 1991, from... Continue Reading →
marchudson.net 