Marshall Gantz – Public Narrative – Keys to Organizing Success from Free Forum with Terrence McNally, Episode 623 (Powered by Snipd for podcasts.)
This episode was a rebroadcast of an interview with Marshall Gantz conducted during the 2012 Obama-Romney election campaign. There is so much great information out there that I would like to share. Snipd allows you to highlight and save parts of your podcast for later review, so here are the parts that I found most useful.
paradox of powerlessness: Powerlessness often causes people to turn to those in power for help, but real change only happens when troubled individuals become the driving force for change. This contradiction can be resolved by understanding the difference between resources and power. Communities may lack power, but they don't necessarily lack resources. By coming together and collectively leveraging available resources, even seemingly powerless communities can generate power and drive significant change. The Montgomery bus boycott exemplifies this concept of individuals leveraging the resources of collective action to change power relations in their favor. This example highlights the importance of resourcefulness in empowering communities to overcome powerlessness and create meaningful change. (I think we saw this in the Ocelot teacher strikes in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Oklahoma in 2018.)
The importance of strategy and the power of interdependence: The importance of strategy lies in its ability to transform existing resources into desired outcomes, thereby enabling individuals to achieve their goals. Through examples as diverse as Southern black churches, sleeping car porter unions, black fraternal organizations, and the farmworker movement, the connections between developing leadership, nurturing community, and building power for change are revealed. These experiences highlight the importance of strategy in creating meaningful and impactful change. Strategy involves turning what we have into what we need to achieve our goals. Power is a relationship based on a balance of interests and resources. Understanding interdependence, as demonstrated by Gandhi's insight that systems depend on the cooperation of both the exploited and the exploited, can influence the impact that can be exerted. It is possible to identify points.
David and Goliath's five smooth stones: The story of David and Goliath also emphasizes the importance of standing up to anger and oppression against injustice, rather than relying on traditional feasibility studies and advice to avoid problems. “David doesn't take the fight because he looked at the feasibility of the Phoenix Giants at McKinsey. He takes the fight because he's furious at an injustice. And everyone else is telling him to shut up. I’m telling you not to cause trouble.”
Obama Presidential Campaign Transformation Model: American politics has historically been designed to suppress change through checks and balances. Social movements, such as the Great Awakening of the 1830s and 1840s, interact with political parties to transform them and influence public policy. The conservative, civil rights, and labor movements illustrate this pattern. President Obama's campaign initially followed a change model with social movements, but during his presidency he shifted to a transactional governance model.
Request for conflict avoidance: “It wasn't just a shift from change to dealmaking, it was a shift toward passivity in leadership. That was just amazing.” Those who want Rodney King's political theory that dialogue alone can resolve differences Although there may be some, democracy thrives on conflict. Democracy works by holding those in power to account through competitive elections and difficult parties, and it emphasizes the importance of engaging in and embracing conflict to avoid being overwhelmed by opposing views.
democracy patsy: Democracy works by contesting competitive elections, political parties, and holding those in power to account. The belief in resolving differences through dialogue without actual conflict is ineffective in a democracy. Avoiding conflict can cause you to lose power to the other side. Misconceptions about bipartisanship in districts and Congress were highlighted as important misconceptions, indicating the need for a clearer understanding of how democracy works competitively.
[This is giving me a little PTSD. We all watched the train wreck in slow motion as the Obama administration made concession after concession to people clearly not acting in good faith on health care, the stimulus package, you name it, there was no piece of legislation of which the GOP made bad faith requests and delivered no votes.]
The importance of compromise: Compromise and negotiation are tactics, not ends in themselves. When compromise is seen as an end rather than a means to achieving a valued end, the actual purpose becomes unclear and leads to a loss of perspective. When a conflict is difficult, it may seem convenient to focus on compromise as a goal, but it can obscure the true purpose and make it seem like the process is more important than the outcome.
tea party and occupation: Both the Tea Party and Occupy were born out of anxiety, the former driven by fear and the latter by hope. Occupy's success in reshaping the discourse underscores the Democratic Party's reluctance to address key issues of economic and political inequality. This movement exposed the fear within the Democratic Party leadership to address these issues, which Occupy boldly confronted, leading to a paradigm shift in recognizing and addressing economic disparities.
The role of narrative in leadership: Narratives play an important role in leadership because they help individuals make choices in uncertain situations by accessing moral and emotional resources through stories. Families, cultures, and religions use stories to teach individuals how to act and make decisions in the world. Leadership revolves around her three main aspects. The questions are: “Why me?”, “Who are you?”, “Can't wait?” The essence of leadership lies in the connection between self and others' actions, emphasizing the importance of understanding oneself and others in order to take timely action.
Stories and the power of storytelling: Stories and narratives play a critical role in motivating action and driving conversation. But to drive real change, a combination of storytelling, structured leadership, strategy, and tactics is essential. Stories have the power to emotionally engage people, but without a strategic approach and clear action, stories alone are not enough. Meeting the challenges of acquiring skills, leveraging resources strategically, and finding the courage are key to transforming power and driving meaningful change. “The challenge…is a challenge to the hands, the head, and the heart. That is, once you pick it up, how can you acquire the skills you need? For the mind, it's about how to strategically allocate its resources. It's about how you use it, and for the mind, it's about how you find the courage. Stories can work on the mind part, but the strategic part and the action part are important. . So the whole idea is to exercise power, access, and transform. That's what it's all about.”
