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An inspiring instructional handbook for transforming idealism into social change
The pursuit of freedom and justice is a timeless one, but new activists may not know where to begin, while more experienced ones often become jaded or fatigued. The task of constructing a new society, free from oppression and inequality, can be overwhelming. Tools for facilitating motivation, engagement, and communication can mean the difference between failure and success for activists and social movements.
Educating for Action collects the voices of activists whose combined experience in confronting injustice has generated a wealth of key insights for creating social change. This practical guide explores such topics as:
- Community activism and direct democracy
- Conflict negotiation, communication, and rhetoric
- Law, the educational system, and lifestyle activism
- Social media skills, conference planning, and online organizing
Written in an inspirational tone, Educating for Action consciously straddles the line between street activism and classroom instruction. Bridging the gap between these two worlds makes for an engaging and instructive manual for social justice, helping students, teachers, and larger activist communities turn their idealism into action.
Jason Del Gandio is a scholar-activist and assistant professor of rhetoric and public advocacy at Temple University. He is the author of Rhetoric for Radicals: A Handbook for 21st Century Activists.
Anthony J. Nocella II is a scholar-activist and senior fellow of the Dispute Resolution Institute at the Hamline Law School. He is a long-time anti-racism, youth justice, prison abolition, hip hop, animal, disability, and Earth liberation activist and has published over fifty scholarly articles and book chapters and sixteen books.
"For those of us who have been kind of making it up as we go along, this book is a real resource for change-making!"
—Bill McKibben, author, founder, 350.org
"Here we have a book that seeks to teach people (particularly those in ostensibly democratic societies) how to "disturb the peace." Increasingly, I'll stake my life on the idea that this is something peace education and other forms of critical pedagogy need to dedicate themselves to like never before if we are to avoid the worst of the catastrophic effects that now manifest as social and ecological crises across the face of the planet."
— Richard Kahn, Core Faculty in Education, Antioch University Los Angeles
"Educating for Action is a book whose time has returned. Del Gandio and Nocella take us forward from the days of Saul Alinsky, and do so with a fresh outlook and a recipe that is rich and promising for a more durable positive outcome than methods used by many earlier activists. The focus on transformative justice reminds the reader that peace can only be attained through truly peaceful means."
— John C. Alessio, PhD, author, Social Problems and Inequality: Social Responsibility through Progressive Sociology
"Educating for Action is a much-needed guide for activist communities that provides practical strategies for both seasoned and new activists. With a variety of perspectives and authors, this text should be on every radical's (and soon-to-be radical's) bookshelf."
— Kim Socha, author, Women, Destruction, and the Avant-Garde: A Paradigm for Animal Liberation
"In the community development and social change community, the question of good reading materials continually arises — where to find them and how to access them? Educating for Action answers that question. With chapters from "Communication and Rhetoric" to "The Politics of Planning," Del Gandio and Nocella deliver a sound and contextual book that provides social change workers with a dense and excellent set of resources. This is the book for community development."
— Daniel White Hodge, author, The Soul Of Hip Hop: Rims, Timbs and a Cultural Theology
"The rhythm of activism is the beat of engaged citizenship and the pulse of a moral life: we open our eyes and pay attention to the world as it is; we allow ourselves to be astonished at the dazzling beauty as well as the unnecessary suffering all around us; we notice that next to the world as such is a world that could be or should be — a possible world. We join hands and act, we reflect and rethink, and we repeat for a lifetime. Jason Del Gandio and Anthony J. Nocella II have assembled an essential companion for both seasoned and aspiring activists. Educating for Action can lend a hand as activists nourish their social imaginations and build up their courage and commitment, cultivate creativity and inventiveness, grow both their patience and their audacity, find ways to be thoughtful and passionate in the same gesture, and expand their sense of genuine solidarity. Educating for Action is a text to cram into your backpack alongside your water bottle and your vitamin E — part of the tool kit for those of us working to create a world of joy and justice, a planet at peace and in balance, a future powered by love and fit for all children."
— Bill Ayers, PhD, author, Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti-War Activist
"Educating for Action is an impressive compendium that offers great insight from a stellar group of scholar-activists. The text is a rare combination of how-to guide grounded in theoretical context. Although aimed at youth activists, this is an excellent guide for any community organization or group searching for ways to improve its effectiveness. I can also imagine it serving as an invaluable resource for my undergraduate course in public policy and community action. This is exactly the right book, at the right time."
— Sandy Grande, PhD, author, Red Pedagogy: Native American Social and Political Thought
Jason Del Gandio is an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Public Advocacy at Temple University. He has participated in the Global Justice Movement, the anti-war movement during the Bush Administration, the anti-RNC demonstrations of 2004, fair-trade campaigns, Latin American solidarity work and the Occupy Movement. Jason has appeared on television and radio, and regularly speaks on college campuses and at public venues. He is the author of Rhetoric for Radicals: A Handbook for 21st Century Activists.
Anthony J. Nocella is a scholar-activist, a Visiting Professor in the School of Education at Hamline University, and a Senior Fellow of the Dispute Resolution Institute at the Hamline Law School. From blockading highways against the war in Iraq to lobbying for national forest protection, Anthony has been involved with numerous movements and struggles, including dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, anarchism, Earth liberation, animal liberation, disability liberation and Hip Hop youth activism. He has co-founded several active political organizations and published more than 50 scholarly articles and 15 books.
Acknowledgments
Foreword: Reading Peace Education Joy James
Preface: Teaching Peace Peter McLaren
Introduction: Peace as a Political Force Jason Del Gandio and Anthony J. Nocella II
Part 1: Starting With Me
1. Personal Lifestyle Larry Albert Butz
2. Communication and Rhetoric Jason Del Gandio
Part 2: Working with Others
3. Participation and Democracy Joshua Ryan Holst
4. Transformative Justice and Conflict Transformation Anthony J. Nocella II, Melissa Chiprin, Anniessa Antar, and Alisha Page
Part 3: Getting into the Streets
5. Organizing Your Community Drew Robert Winter
6. Activist Guidelines and Case Studies Jason Del Gandio, James Generic, Aaron Zellhoefer, and Anthony J. Nocella II
Part 4: Social Networks
7. The Politics of Planning: Conference Organizing as an Act of Resistance Jenny Grubbs and Michael Loadenthal
8. Social Media and Online Organizing Jeanette Russell
Part 5: Institutional Change
9. The Laws and Lawyers of Social Change Dara Lovitz
10. The Courage to Teach Critically: Anti-Oppression and Pro-Justice Dialogues in the Classroom Rita Verma
Epilogue: Thankfulness, Mutual Recognition, and Appreciation Kim Socha and Anthony J. Nocella II
Resources for Peace and Justice Activists
Contributors' Biographies
Endnotes
Index