Turning The Tide For Transformation

Protest Politics and Strategy
A perspective from a development activist
James Matthew B. Miraflor
August 27, 2009
City of Malabon University
Turning the Tide for Transformation

Why Change?
We live in a world of upheaval and multiple crises.
Global economic recession
Political institutions captured by rent-seekers
Climate crisis due to high-carbon-emitting industrialization
Cultural and spiritual decay due to consumerism
And so on…
The most question is not “what is my role?” but “where do I stand?”
You either stand for CHANGE, or you stand for the STATUS QUO.

Political Science: All about Power and Bias
Why is political science about power?
All decisions are made on the basis of power
And decisions have to be made because life is uncertain
Why is political science about bias?
Unfortunately, decisions are made at the cost of another, limited choices
And ultimately, all decisions are made on the basis of interest
No genuine “political neutrality” – we are all political agents, political subject

Political Agents: Differences in Roles
Role of the Political Agent:
Accumulate and exercise power to advance bias
Role of the Progressive Political Agent:
Accumulate and exercise power to advance social good

But how to attain power?
Social power emanates from others
No man is an island!
The key: organization and communication
Managing actions and responses
Important: learn to manage what you do not control

Lessons from a Community Organizer: Saul Alinsky
“The first step in community organization is community disorganization.”
In order to get power, create disturbance amongst those in power.
Alinsky provides a collection of rules to guide the process. But rules must be translated into real-life tactics that are fluid and responsive to the situation at hand.

On Morality
“The more particular a person is on the means to attain an end, the less involved that person actually is.” - Alinsky
“The ilustrados - the intellectuals - should have no role in the Revolution, in any revolution. They equivocate, they argue, they procrastinate. Writers and academics who think they have a role in revolution are flattering themselves; what they really want to do is to be part of it, to lead it, without having to raise the sword.” – F. Sionil

Rule 1: Perception
Rule 1: “Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have.”
The art of BLUFFING
If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.
Alinsky rule
If you are very few -> Stink up the place!
If you are few -> Make noise!
If you are many -> Show your force!

Rules 2 and 3: Experience
Rule 2: “Never go outside the experience of your people. ”
Uncertainty cause confusion, fear, and retreat.
Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone.
Rule 3: “Whenever possible, go outside the experience of an opponent.”
This happens all the time.
Many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are forced to address.

Rule 4: Loopholes
Rule 4: “Make opponents live up to their own book of rules.”
Many establishments are clothed with hypocrisy.
They say one thing, but they do another.
They use rules as a weapon.
But rules, inevitably, have contradictions.
Rules can be weapons too, for the weak.
Invoke the rules that disadvantages them.

Rule 5: Ridicule
Rule 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”
It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.
There is no defense. It's irrational. It's infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.
According to Alinsky, the main job of the organizer is to bait an opponent into reacting.
“The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength.”

Rule 6 and 7: Tactics & Entertainment
Rule 6: “A good tactic is one that people enjoy.”
“If your people aren’t having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.”
They'll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They're doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones.
Rule 7: ”A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag.”
Commitment may become ritualistic as people turn to other issues.
People have a tendency to be BORED.

Rule 8: Pressure
Rule 8: “Keep the pressure on.”
“The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.”
Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new.
Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.
Stop attacking, and you’ll be attacked, and you’ll be on the defensive.

Rule 9: Threat
Rule 9: “The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself.”
When Alinsky leaked word that large numbers of poor people were going to tie up the washrooms of O’Hare Airport, Chicago city authorities quickly agreed to act on a longstanding commitment to a ghetto organization.
They imagined the mayhem as thousands of passengers poured off airplanes to discover every washroom occupied.
Then they imagined the international embarrassment and the damage to the city’s reputation.

Rule 10: Alternative
Rule 10: “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.”
Avoid being trapped by an opponent or an interviewer who says, “Okay, what would you do?”
Tell them: “But this __ must be resolved first!”
This means, NEVER BE ON THE DEFENSIVE.

Rule 11: The Target
Rule 11: “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it.”
Don’t try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual.
Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.
Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.

BUT!
These rules are not absolute. In fact, doing the opposite can be VALID TACTICS.
Instead of PRESSURE, one can use SILENCE.
Instead of ignoring pleas for an alternative, one can create a comprehensive alternative.
Instead of threat, one can faint weakness.
Instead of ridicule, its ok to use compliments
And so on…

Never forget the mission
People who exercise power tend to forget their objectives.
Thus the phrase “power corrupts”.
They must be reminded, and they must be close to whatever that which reminds them.
Be with the people you fight for.
As long you have common interests with those you fight for, then you will always fight for their interests.

“The pessimism of the mind… optimism of the will”
Antonio Gramsci
Intellectual thinker and revolutionary

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Turning The Tide For Transformation

by James Matthew Miraflor on Aug 27, 2009

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