Re-centring our movements
A full-day personal and organisational exploration with Suzanne and Liam, on growing diverse and powerful social and environmental justice organisations.
the re-centring circle
Is your organisation more white and middle class than you know it could be? Do your supporters or members fit a similar description? Have you tried adding welcoming comments to the bottoms of your job descriptions, or sending out campaign emails to make clear that you want others to get involved, but had little to show for it?
We’ve been working with organisations to address the deeper level of change that is often required to get beyond the ‘bubbles of privilege’ that many of our social change organisations find ourselves stuck in. Prejudices run deeper than we often realise, and the ways we instinctively organise ourselves may be closing doors to the very people we want and need to be opening up to. Building a healthy and vibrant movement requires that as well as looking out at all of the problems beyond our walls we also need to take time to look at the health and vitality of our movements.
Addressing power and privilege is a lifelong process and involves some uncomfortable personal and organisational explorations. We will work towards building an organising culture that is open to honest self reflection with safe spaces for us to start having the conversations that we need to have. We can explore these questions together to better understand and challenge a range of assumptions that may be preventing your organisation from being part of a healthy and vibrant movement.
If you’d like to talk, we can be reached at: liam [at] morelikepeople.org or sue [at] morelikepeople.org
