Ways and Means

Connexions Volume 8, Number 1 - Spring 1983

Our striving for a new and better society has taught many of us that our goals are inseparable from the means we use to achieve them. But this plain truth is also one that we commonly have to learn rather more frequently than we would like. How often do we find ourselves forgetting what we think we have learned, acting in ways that undermine our aims? Or how often do we find ourselves at a loss, feeling sure that there must be a more effective way of proceeding, but unable to discover the best way around the roadblocks we face? At such times a fresh perspective or a sharing of someone else's hard-won experiences and practical insights can make a real difference.

Starting with this issue CONNEXIONS will attempt to stimulate this kind of practical and theoretical sharing, with a new section which we are tentatively calling Ways and Means. In this section, we hope that our readers will give us, and each other, the benefit of their ideas and experiences on matters ranging from collective process to fundraising, breaking down sex roles in groups to resolving conflicts, decision-making to ways of giving each other mutual support.

We see this section as consisting mainly of short letters, comments, articles, or how-to (or how-not-to) recipes on specific topics, problems and even favorite foods!

To launch this section, we have described some aspects of CONNEXIONS' own functioning as a collective; specifically our ways of trying to structure meetings in a manner appropriate to a positive collective process.

We welcome your comments on our experience, and we would also welcome your ideas and experiences about questions such as the following, or any other matters you find important:

- What kinds of things do you find are sources of energy for you as an individual, or for groups you are part of?

- What kinds of things drain energy away?

- How can we work through “burn out”, recover, and become even more effective?

- How do members of your group respond to or take into account each other's emotional needs? How do you support, encourage, and affirm each other as individuals and in your work? How do you celebrate?!

- What ways have you found of ensuring that decision-making in your organization is shared as widely as possible? How do you prevent power in an organization from centering itself in a small core group?

- If you are an individual who works for social change without belonging to a group, why have you chosen to do so? What experiences have you had with existing groups that influenced your decision? Does the absence of a reference group make it harder to sustain involvement?

- How does a group handle serious disagreements constructively, preventing them from becoming divisive and destructive?

- What are the keys to successful fundraising? Publicity?

- If your group has both paid staff and “volunteer” members, what ways have you found of defining these roles to minimize the tensions that sometimes emerge around them?

- How does a group deal with turnover and regenerate itself?

- How do you run meetings efficiently, while at the same time allowing for spontaneity and flexibility?

- What would you include if you were making a list of things that social change organizations should avoid? Utilize?

See also: Meeting Collectively.

Subject Headings

Activism/Radicalism  Social Change

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