What are the Elements of a Successful Movement?
If I were to start a new organization or initiative, which I’ve done a bunch of times, first I’d look to what else is being done in that area and how it’s successful or unsuccessful. I’d want to incorporate elements that create success, and avoid ones that create failure. Then I’d branch out beyond the area of the new organization.
When I think about our fledgling animal rights movement (and yes, I’m aware that the idea of animal rights or abolition are not new, and the rights versus welfare debate has been going on for decades. Check out For the Prevention of Cruelty, by Diane Beers, for the details.), I think: What is or has occurred that is similar and has been successful? What has been an utter failure? Why? I’ll call it forensic strategic planning. The first step in forming a movement, initiative or organization should be to determine what it perhaps should have or do and what it shouldn’t have or do, based purely on what’s currently happening or has happened in the past.
Now, past success or failure isn’t a guarantee that the same will reoccur, however there is a better than average chance that that’ll be the case, particularly if you are talking about more than one example.
So I ask you all, where have you seen excellence, and what were some of the factors that contributed to that excellence? Your sources are likely to be cause-driven organizations at first, but after you’ve examine them, feel free to look to the for-profit world, and anywhere else. It would be a mistake to say: This is a movement based on nonviolence and social justice, so we should only look to similar movements for our sources. The nonprofit world did that for a long time, resisting using anything that smacked of for-profit practices, and it was only when they realized the for-profit world could actually teach them something, that many nonprofits increase in effectiveness, efficiency and reach.
In your experience or observation, what creates success?
What creates failure?
And what would rekindle your passion to work for animal rights, or make you work even harder?
I think 2007 was a good year for animal rights. After the horrendous “year of the new welfarists” in 2006, I think a small, new animal rights movement saw its birth in 2007.
I think motivation and a long-term perspective are important now and will continue to be important for the years and decades to come. There are a few things I think we should keep in mind which I posted on Vegan Freak Forums about a month ago:
First, we should remember that those who have or will appropriate “animal rights” and “abolition” outnumber us at least 100 to 1 in everything from headcount to dollars available to spend (in dollars, it’s probably around 10,000 to 1). They have called us a small but “vocal” group. Small is an understatement. We will have to be very vocal for an extended period of time (like, years and decades, not weeks or months) before we can build a strong movement which perpetuates itself and can’t be ignored.
Second, and related to the first point, I think it is important to realize that this is an ultra marathon, not a mile. Fortunately, and unlike an ultra marathon, if we don’t burn out from unreasonable expectations, we can be very vocal for many decades. That it is an ultra marathon does not mean that we should “take it easy”, but it does mean that we should hold onto a long-term perspective and realize that we will have to persist for years to change things. We should continue being very vocal while not expecting results any time soon. If we expect results too quickly (e.g. within a couple of years), frustration and apathy will set in. Results will come, but they will come because of single-minded persistence over years of a restless, relentless, and vocal minority.
We’ve had quite a nice rally in 2007 for such a small group. The point is that we must keep on promoting animal rights and abolition annually and renewing the rally in 2008, 2009, 2010….20XX so that we don’t become an interesting abolition flash of enlightenment in the middle of the dark ages that passed in the night as quickly as it came.
Let's make sure 2008 is as strong as 2007.
Great questions! I'm assuming you must have read Erik Marcus' Meat Market? It's got a great analysis of our movement's successes and failures, and some very useful recommendations for improvement.
To be well rounded in one's reading about the "movement", one ought to include Gary Francione's Rain Without Thunder (1996). Anyone who hasn't read RWT is missing the essense of why the "movement" hasn't moved very much.