collaboration students, youth, and “new” social movements chris pearsell-ross...

CollaborationStudents, Youth, and “New” Social

Movements

Chris Pearsell-Ross

canadianpacific.wordpress.com

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xkcd.com

preamble.

this is where I introduce my topic, layout my thought process,

and get you all excited.

important, n’est pas?

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city•Distinct physical characteristics

•George Bugliarello: “Can be defined by population, by administrative jurisdictions, by function and by territory.”

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a city is more than a physical place, however

it is a complex social, cultural and economic system, or network, of people

the physical space allows for technical and design changes, but the social space has huge potential for social change

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universities

universities are essentially ‘mini cities’ administration - staff - students - economies - social networks

but they also have a distinct purpose - innovation and education

one place for this change is at universities, schools and among the youth of the city

“environmentalism” at york

Glendon make look green…

Campus Services and Business Operations

President Shoukri announces new initiatives

Associate Dean of FES criticizes them as ‘cosmetic’

Student environmentalism at York

here at Glendon we’ve got Roots and Shoots

several environmental clubs at Keele

Sustainable Purchasing Coalition

Traditional strategies:

• Build an institution

• “Name and blame”

• Direct action

• Work with/within industry

• Lobby government

• Personal lifestyle changes

And now for something completely different…

sort of…

Collaboration as a Strategy

/kəˌlæbəˈreɪʃən/collaboration[kuh-lab-uh-rey-shuhn]a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together toward an intersection of common goals — for example, an intellectual endeavor that is creative in nature, or say, creating a facebook photo album called “awwwezom party pics”with your friends — by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus. Collaboration does not require leadership and can sometimes bring better results through decentralization and egalitarianism. In particular, teams that work collaboratively can obtain greater resources, recognition and reward when facing competition for finite resources.

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a collaborative network twitter

the status quo…traditional organizing relies on institutions

institutions try to maximize efficiency by concentrating resources on the most productive areas, contributors - staff / members, professionals, etc.

this makes them exclusionary

if institutions exclude valuable contributions, then their systems should be redesigned

how is a collaborative approach different?

Collaboration uses latent capabilities…

uses existing social networksnew communications technology

organization vs. planningby giving up some control, groups

can incorporate contributions from ‘the masses’ - see ‘open/crowd sourcing’ allows for 100% inclusion, rather than using models with built-in exclusion

This page and the previous from Clay Shirky’s Lecture “Institutions vs. Collaboration” on TED.com - link via “the blog”

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but a social movement? really?• A social movement is a collective, organized, sustained,

noninstitutional challenge to authorities, powerholders, or cultural beliefs and practices.– Goodwin and Jaspers 2004

• “…social movements are a distinct social process consisting of the mechanisms through which actors engage in collective action:– are involved in conflictual relations with clearly identified opponents

– are linked by dense networks

– share a collective identity”• Della Porta and Diani 2006

• Resource mobilization perspective: focus on rational action, organization, strategy and consequences

• RESOURCES (adapted from Edwards and McCarthy 2004)– Moral, especially legitimacy– Cultural (e.g., facebook groups, blogs)– Social Organizational: infrastructures, social networks,

organizations– Human: labor, experience, skills, expertise, leadership– Material: especially financial, but also property, office space,

etc

Collaborative strategies start REPLACING the MATERIAL with the CULTUAL - with pre-existing networks built through social organization - to mobilize the HUMAN, generating MORAL legitimacy through consensus.

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Obama’s campaign uses a similar strategy…

by decentralizing campaign organizing, he has been able to maximize campaign success while reducing the costs

local campaign organizers are given the freedom to contribute how they want, and are given funds and support from the campaign office

this has led to one of the most succeful fundraising and support campaigns seen

perhaps not coincidentally, Obama has adopted the goal of an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions from 1990 levels, by 2050

McCain’s campaign has also pledged an impressive 60% reduction over the same time period

But really, what does this all mean?

• smaller, better organized, less institutional groups will have more power

• more voices will speak, more will be heard• this will have a continued direct result on

government policy• the ‘city’ and ‘university’ as loci of social progress

will be expanded, as social networks and collaboration spread beyond the city’s traditional boundaries

Discussion:

• Initial thoughts? Comments? Questions?• When and where would collaborative strategies be most

effective? Least?– Do we need institutions? where/when/why?

• Do you see any parallels with the concept of ‘resource mobilization’?

• How can the ‘environmental movement’ use these strategies better? Are they more or less effective that traditional strategies, such as “name and blame”, protests, direct action / confrontation?

• Guha > ecolocy of affluence vs. permanence: are these new technologies part of either?– Do these strategies threaten or exclude anything (values, traditions, etc.) or

anyone?

fin