Nature of Social Change - Fri. 9am
Nature of social struggle, stages of social change, recognizing victory

Presenters: Hershaft

Alex Hershaft, PhD
Farm Animal Rights Movement, www.farmusa.org

Click here for a formatted version of Alex's outline.

All social change involves a struggle to wrest power from established interests. A basic grounding in this process should make our struggle more effective.

Needs and Resources

• Nature of needs; Maslow’s hierarch
• Nature, availability, and distribution of resources; animals as resource
• Conflicts of interest; concentration and application of power

Nature of Social Struggle

• Purpose of social struggle; Douglas quote
• Tactics of social struggle - discomfort
• AR and vegism as metaphors for justice and survival

Stages of Social Struggle

• Stages of social struggle
• Characterized by public opinion, countermeasures, and pitfalls
• Also by issue and location
• Our major failings are to recognize correct stage, appropriate tactics, and success

Alerting stage

• Purpose and tactics - stunts
• Pitfalls: failure of imagination and comfort
• Countermeasures: ignore
• Examples: killing for food, fishing, research on mice, zoos and circuses

Discussion stage

• Purpose and tactics – appeal to feelings and beliefs
• Pitfalls: stuck in Alerting Stage
• Countermeasures: personal attacks, repressive law enforcement
• Examples: environmental/economic damages of animal agriculture, hunting, fur, dog and primate research, product testing

Reform stage

• Purpose, tactics – trigger events and legislation
• Pitfalls: activists quitting for lack of excitement
• Countermeasures: studies, death by committee, failure to fund
• Examples: humane treatment/slaughter, health consequences, spay/neuter, ESA

Assessing Success

• Short-term vs. long-term
• Bang vs. whimper
• Fantasy vs. reality

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Pattrice Jones
Eastern Shore Sanctuary, www.bravebirds.org

Power

Power is the capacity to create change. Most movements focus on how to get and use power but our task is more nuanced because, while we have much less power than the institutions and cultural practices we oppose, we already have too much power over those for whom we purport to act. Thus we must ask both how to get power and how to give it back. We also are obligated to think deeply about how best to deploy the power that we have and obtain.

Theories of Social Change

We all have beliefs about what motivates people to change their attitudes and behavior. We must make sure that the theory that guides your actions is consistent with what we about how individuals, groups, and institutions really do change. Assumptions about the impact of particular tactics must constantly be tested against reality. Strategies must be comprehensive, including both ultimate and intermediate aims as well as a realistic program of tactics likely to achieve those aims. The most effective strategies are multi-faceted, involving both "inside the system" and "outside the system" approaches to systemic changes as well as cognitive, emotional, and behavioral approaches to individual change.

Social Change Movements

Movements are living processes rather than inert things. Like ecosystems, movements require biodiversity, clean air, and regular infusions of new genes to survive and thrive. If we want an effective movement for animal liberation, we all have to be willing to change. We have to see our efforts as an ongoing experiment in effective activism. We have to use trial-and-error, understanding that we might be in error and being willing to change our ways if that proves to be true. We must also understand that motion derives from emotion and that empathy and rationality must flow into and feed each other.