Category: Activism (Page 14 of 29)

These are posts on activism from the blog Base and Superstructure. This takes many forms. The focus here is on political activism, above all on activist organizing and base-building. One concern is how to build effective movements. There’s also a need to create solidarity with fellow members and build coalitions with other groups. The main aim of good movements is to work together to advance material interests. This section also includes critiques of electoral work, and discussion of how and when to use elections to advance activist goals. Navigating the balance between grassroots work and electoral work is difficult for everyone.

What’s a Radlib?

May 23, 2022 / baseblogger

‘Radlib’? What’s that?

Let’s start here. Leftists turn to insults and name calling every now and then. And we have no shortage of names to call the people who disagree with us. We can (and do) call them ‘liberal.’ For the edgier among them, we can call them ‘ultra-liberal‘ (or even ‘ultra-left‘ if they’re leftists we don’t like). Or if we’re just feeling like pouring gas on a fire, we can use ‘shitlib.’

But I’m interested in ‘radlib.’ Let’s take a look at it. What might be compelling about it? Can it do any work those other terms can’t?

The Politics of Lean Production

May 16, 2022 / baseblogger

I subscribe to a few leftist magazines. One of them – Catalyst – has published a few contributions to a debate over the status of Lean production. Not long ago, I read the most recent article in that debate: one by the title ‘The Politics of Lean Production‘ by Matt Vidal.

The debate itself concerns both the theory and economics of Lean. Is Lean a bad thing by its very nature? Or, on the other hand, do we have ways we can redirect it for the benefit of the left? Vidal reads his opponents as arguing for the former, while he argues for the latter. And while Vidal doesn’t really want to go there, no less than Lenin himself once tried to re-capture something a bit like Lean.

Let’s take a look at this debate.

The Limits of Mobilizing

May 9, 2022 / baseblogger

I’ve posted a few times on Jane McAlevey’s book No Shortcuts. Readers looking to catch up can read the most important of those posts here and here. But I find one other big lesson that McAlevey gives to us. That concerns the limit of mobilizing as a method and basis for an org.

Let’s explore that a bit.

Organic Leader: Potential Problems?

May 2, 2022 / baseblogger

Just about everyone involved in leftist organizing in the last 5 years knows about Jane McAlevey. No Shortcuts became the go-to book for it. There’s a broader debate out there on how well McAlevey’s methods do in the real world. But I want to hone in on one idea from her book – the notion of the ‘organic leader.’

McAlevey advocates for an organizing model whereby the organizer – union organizer for McAlevey, but we could apply the model well beyond unions – starts by identifying organic leaders among workers. From there, the organic leader takes the lead in building support for the org.

There’s a lot I like about McAlevey’s approach. But I also think there’s a lot riding on the very organic leaders she appeals to. If we find problems with the very idea of an organic leader, it could put the org in trouble right from the start. So, let’s talk about that.

Thomas Merton on Factionalism

April 21, 2022 / baseblogger

As of late, I’ve written a fair bit about factions and sectarianism on the left. On that topic, I recently revisited a quote from Thomas Merton.

For anyone who doesn’t know Merton, he was a Trappist monk. He wrote on Catholicism, social justice, and other topics. Among many other books, he wrote the autobiographical The Seven Storey Mountain.

Category: Activism (Page 14 of 29)

What’s a Radlib?

The Politics of Lean Production

The Limits of Mobilizing

Organic Leader: Potential Problems?

Thomas Merton on Factionalism

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