Changing the ‘world as it is’ into the ‘world as it should be’
By Mark Engler, Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence
Resolving the conflict between being visionary and being pragmatic is critical for those who want to transform society.
Why movements need to start singing again
By Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence
Social movements are stronger when they sing. That’s a lesson that has been amply demonstrated throughout history, and it’s one that I have learned personally in working to develop trainings for activists over the past decade and a half.
What’s the problem with taking state power?
By Mark Engler, Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence
Should we maintain independence and function as a critical force outside of mainstream politics, or should we attempt to take hold of the levers of institutional power in order to create change?
Political polarization is pushing evangelicals to a historic breaking point
By Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence
But the current juncture has created a moment loaded with potential, in which the unprecedented alignment of evangelicalism with the Republican right is being shaken — at least at the margins — and new possibilities are emerging.
Movements are vying for political power — is ‘co-governance’ the answer?
By Mark Engler, Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence
Those promoting co-governance describe it as a new relationship between social movements and the candidates they help win office — a partnership in which activists and elected officials work to maintain a long-term relationship, closely coordinate strategy and advance grassroots priorities.
How movements can maintain their radical vision while winning practical reforms
By Mark Engler, Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence
Ever since it launched its first audacious land occupations in the mid-1980s, in which groups of impoverished farmers took over unused estates in Southern Brazil and turned them into cooperative farms, the Landless Workers Movement has stood as one of the most innovative and inspiring social movements in the world.
Should we disrupt the Democratic Party or try to take it over?
By Mark Engler, Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence
When trying to figure out how they should interact with political parties, social movements face a common challenge: Should they push from without or seek to operate from within?
Coronavirus is a Historic Trigger Event — and it Needs a Movement to Respond
By Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence
Whether the Sanders campaign seizes this opportunity, or an alternate framework for collective action arises, a mass movement response to the coronavirus pandemic cannot come too soon. For our own sake, and that of our society as a whole, let us help the drive toward solidarity emerge.