A response to the “clicktivism” critique

Ben Brandzel insists, online political organizing goes way beyond clicktivism, excerpt:

“First, we should be clear about what ‘online organising’ actually means, and it is simply this: people collaborating over the internet to convert whatever resources we can spare into social, economic and political change. These resources include our opinions, votes, time, relationships, material goods, and creative talent.

Most large scale online organising does indeed start by sending out mass emails and asking supporters to click on some links. That’s how the internet works. But to therefore reduce the activity of the millions of grassroots activists in groups like MoveOn or the UK’s 38 Degrees to mere ‘clicking’ is akin to saying that writers merely scratch at random with their pen, doctors merely tap on their stethoscope, and fire fighters merely play around with their hose.

The value of any tool is only clear when one understands the context, purpose and affect; and while all online organising tactics start on the internet, every good tactic ends with offline, real-world impact.

It is true that sometimes bad online organising comes along and doesn’t make the leap. An online petition which remains locked in a database, or is quietly emailed into a bureaucratic abyss, is at best a waste of time and at worst a nudge towards cynical disengagement – but to dismiss the explosive power of internet-fueled advocacy on that basis would be as disempowering and counter-productive as abandoning the idea of labor unions after a failed strike, or ignoring all elections because of one inept candidate.

Instead, those committed to social change must strive to distinguish the good online organising from the bad, and then demand excellence wherever we can.

So how does good online organising lead to real-world change? Most tactics can be roughly grouped into three major categories: speaking up, reaching out and working together. These categories are illustrated below with a range of quick stories from some of the world’s leading online organising outfits.

* Speaking up: Using grassroots power to pressure specific decision makers

Even the most basic device in digital organising, the online petition, enables millions of people to easily express an opinion to a public or private sector decision-maker. This is an essential act of citizenship, not to be sneered at. But do the petitions influence change? That depends on what you do with them.

During the Bali, Indonesia, climate summit in December 2007, Japan sided with the USA and Canada to block a global agreement on 2020 carbon reduction targets. Avaaz, The global online organising network, collected more than 90,000 signatures overnight, and then ran an ad featuring the total in the Jakarta paper. Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper later reported on a closed-door meeting in which prime minister Yasuo Fukuda was presented with the ad, and then shifted his stance, breaking the international deadlock.

In the UK, consider the week of June 15th, 2009. That Monday, Gordon Brown announced that the long awaited inquiry into the Iraq war would be held in secret. A massive outcry followed, including an emergency online petition by the new group 38 Degrees. On Thursday, they arranged to hand deliver constituent signatures and comments to every MP’s Westminster mailbox. By the following Tuesday, No. 10 announced the inquiry would be public.

Or this year, when BBC 6 Music faced extinction, nearly 45,000 38 Degrees members signed online in protest. Next, those same members funded billboards featuring the growing signature total outside BBC offices nationwide. The petition was then publicly handed over by the same artists who perform on the station. 6 Music is now alive and well.

Of course, petitions are just the simplest of many ways good online organising can concentrate grassroots pressure on key decision makers.

This year in the United States, online supporters of Barack Obama’s Organizing for America flooded Congress with more than 1.5 million constituent calls – beating back a $400 million industry lobbying onslaught to finally pass universal health care.

In Australia in early 2008, nearly 20,000 online members of GetUp joined together as customers of ANZ Bank, demanding that ANZ pull funding for the construction of a new ultra-polluting paper mill. The bank caved, and the construction was cancelled.

Back in 2005, MoveOn’s online tools connected outraged constituents with congressional town hall meetings across the United States. This voter revolt torpedoed President Bush’s attempt to privatise social security, saving millions of American pensioners from certain poverty.

* Reaching out: Connecting people to people to catalyze change

In the 2006 midterm elections, MoveOn members made more than seven million voter turn-out calls to progressives in swing districts, helping to end a decade of Republican dominance in Washington.

In the summer of 2005, the bereaved mother of a fallen soldier kept a lone vigil outside George W Bush’s Texas ranch. Thanks to online organising, more than 200,000 MoveOn members and other progressives held local solidarity rallies across the nation, reinvigorating the flagging anti-war movement at a critical time.

In January of 2008 in Australia, thousands of GetUp members hosted and attended ‘Reconciliation Get Togethers’ where indigenous and white Australians could speak face to face, many for the first time in their lives. They formed plans to tackle injustice and began to heal this terrible rift in Australian society.

* Working together: Pooling our resources to building infrastructure that lasts

MoveOn members have organised hundreds of local leadership councils across the United States, which recruit volunteers, draft local plans and organise neighbourhood events. Thousands of folks of all ages have gotten their first taste of community activism and public leadership from these MoveOn Councils. Most would never have gotten involved if the first step had been more intimidating than an online signature.

And let’s not forget the small donor revolution. We’ve all heard how the insurgent Barack Obama became a viable candidate and then won the presidency because he raised nearly $500 million online.

But rapidly pooling our resources goes far beyond winning elections.

In 2005, MoveOn members opened their homes to more than 30,000 gulf coast residents fleeing the ravages of hurricane Katrina. Beyond the immediate relief, new friendships were forged that bridged cultural, racial and economic divides, helping to tie the nation closer together.

In October 2008, Avaaz members contributed more than $350,000 dollars in less than four days to provide satellite phones to Burmese monks and democracy activists fleeing Rangoon. This established a vital, uncensored channel to report the abuses of the ruling junta.

And just this week, GetUp members funded a successful court battle to allow online enrollment for the Australian electoral register, extending a meaningful franchise to countless young and rural citizens.

These stories help to illustrate what we can accomplish with good online organizing – and it’s just the beginning.”

1 Comment A response to the “clicktivism” critique

  1. AvatarRob Myers

    I do wish 38 Degrees *would* limit themselves to clicks. I’ve now unsubscribed from their mailing list twice after making the mistake of using their MP mailing facilities. Opt-out isn’t ethical for grass roots movements (sic) any more than it is for corporations.

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