Building Movement Project

The devastating effects of a greed-based economy are felt most deeply by low-income communities of color and yet we are almost never included in the discussion of neither the causes of crisis nor the generating of solutions to address the crisis. At times, we exclude ourselves, discouraged by economic jargon and the idea that economic analysis and decision-making is best left to paid experts. This interactive community forum on the economic crisis is designed to demystify capitalism, place participants’ experiences within this economic crisis as central to understanding it, and bring people together to generate our own strategies for achieving economic justice. Participants will leave with a comprehensive set of popular education tools for generating community-based analysis of and solutions to the economic crisis. Many of the workshop tools have been developed using Theater of the Oppressed Techniques and all are rooted in participatory discussion. Tools include: “The Neoliberal Economic Machine,” “Participatory Dialogue and Analysis: The Economic Crisis,” “Interactive Inquiry into Income Inequality,” “Theater-based Brainstorm: the Principles of a Solidarity Economy,” “Real Steps towards a Solidarity Economy.”

During this session by the Building Movement Project, participants will explore alternatives that will allow them to: -Understand how service agencies can serve as sites for movement building work -Reimagine how their own service work can incorporate social change models -Hear examples of how this work is happening locally and nationally -Work with organizers to explore and strategize around the idea of a formal network sustained regionally and locally that promotes a different view of service work and supports movement building among these groups -Learn about and develop strategies for lifting up the sort of leadership that needs to be developed within agencies and groups in order to implement a social change agenda (i.e. constituent leadership, ‘next generation’ leaders) -Reposition the Detroit service sector–which has been on the forefront of this work for the past 7 years–as a place where solutions to problems are created not simply imposed by outside groups Part 1 of the session will share strategies for implementing civic engagement and social change models at the organizational level. Part 2 of the session will focus on building upon these organizational models towards a broader movement for social change.

The devastating effects of a greed-based economy are felt most deeply by low-income communities of color and yet we are almost never included in the discussion of neither the causes of crisis nor the generating of solutions to address the crisis. At times, we exclude ourselves, discouraged by economic jargon and the idea that economic analysis and decision-making is best left to paid experts. This interactive community forum on the economic crisis is designed to demystify capitalism, place participants’ experiences within this economic crisis as central to understanding it, and bring people together to generate our own strategies for achieving economic justice. Participants will leave with a comprehensive set of popular education tools for generating community-based analysis of and solutions to the economic crisis. Many of the workshop tools have been developed using Theater of the Oppressed Techniques and all are rooted in participatory discussion. Tools include: “The Neoliberal Economic Machine,” “Participatory Dialogue and Analysis: The Economic Crisis,” “Interactive Inquiry into Income Inequality,” “Theater-based Brainstorm: the Principles of a Solidarity Economy,” “Real Steps towards a Solidarity Economy.”

During this session by the Building Movement Project, participants will explore alternatives that will allow them to: -Understand how service agencies can serve as sites for movement building work -Reimagine how their own service work can incorporate social change models -Hear examples of how this work is happening locally and nationally -Work with organizers to explore and strategize around the idea of a formal network sustained regionally and locally that promotes a different view of service work and supports movement building among these groups -Learn about and develop strategies for lifting up the sort of leadership that needs to be developed within agencies and groups in order to implement a social change agenda (i.e. constituent leadership, ‘next generation’ leaders) -Reposition the Detroit service sector–which has been on the forefront of this work for the past 7 years–as a place where solutions to problems are created not simply imposed by outside groups Part 1 of the session will share strategies for implementing civic engagement and social change models at the organizational level. Part 2 of the session will focus on building upon these organizational models towards a broader movement for social change.