Anti-Oppression & Campaigning

A good theory of change does not merely react to the immediate impacts of the problem, but looks deeper to understand the root causes and change cultures and narratives to build a future where we can all thrive. 

But too often the lack of diversity in our campaigning teams and the unequal power dynamics at play between NGOs and the communities that we serve mean that we don’t take into account the ways that systems of oppression play a role within the problems that we seek to campaign to change. The result too often is that our campaigns are rooted in privilege and don’t speak to the experiences of the communities most impacted by the issues we work on. Think about the many campaigns that have had white saviour narratives at their core, and presented the communities that we serve as victims that we need to save.

At MobLab we are all about building systems change into the core of our campaign planning processes. And so we have been exploring how we as campaigners can build deeper understandings of systems of oppression within our work as campaigners. The resources below are exercises aimed at opening up conversations about systemic oppression within your campaign planning processes. They are conversation starters to help those campaigners explore the ways that different systems of oppression show up within the topic you are campaigning on. They are an invitation to campaigners to include the communities directly impacted by the issues we campaign on within your strategising processes.

This first tool is about building an understanding of systemic oppression into the problem analysis portion of your campaign planning. It is about being proactive as campaigners and facilitators about reflecting on the ways that different systems of oppression play out within the campaign problem that you are strategising on. These questions may seem simple, but too often we do not take the time to understand the ways that people from minoritised backgrounds are impacted by the problems that we are organising around.

• How does racism manifest within the problem? How are racially minoritised people impacted differently?
• How does sexism manifest within the problem? How are women and feminine people impacted differently?
• How does homophobia and queerphobia manifest within the problem? How are LGBTQI+ people impacted differently?
• How does ableism manifest within the problem? How are disabled people impacted differently?
• How does class inequality manifest within the problem? How are working class communities impacted differently?

These are not expansive questions that cover any and all forms of systemic oppression, so feel free to add to this depending on your needs. Also, think about how people with different intersecting identities will experience the problem in different ways.

As part of your problem analysis you should build up an understanding of the barriers that the communities you serve experience, and building in an understanding of how systems of oppression play a role in that is vital. This tool helps campaigners explore barriers through an anti-oppressive lens, reflecting on the different ways that our thoughts and behaviours uphold systems of oppression. The Four I’s of Oppression is a powerful and diverse tool that helps you analyse problems through four areas; ideology, interpersonal dynamics, internalised ideas, and institutional factors. Here we have adapted this to specifically look at barriers, and this can be a powerful addition to your tool belt for those times that you are doing problem analysis work for your campaign.

• Ideological barriers – how do ideas, beliefs, and assumptions affect how people experience of the problem?
• Interpersonal barriers – how do behaviours and how we treat others affect how people experience of the problem?
• Internalised barriers – how do these ideas and behaviours affect how people think about themselves?
• Institutional barriers – how do policies, rules, and systems within institutions uphold these ideas and behaviours?

These conversations can be very expansive, so be clear about the problem you are looking to understand and the people or communities that you are including in your analysis. Think about racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, ableism, and more as part of your reflections. The ideological and interpersonal will give you a deeper understanding of the ways that barriers manifest in people’s experience. Whilst the internalised and institutional will help you reflect on how those ideas and behaviours become enshrined within ourselves and in our institutions.

We do not make enough space as campaigners to dream about the future. Building spaces where we can dream together and build a collective vision for the future we want to build is important. We love the dreaming circle as a simple and powerful way to build visions.

• Take some time to ask yourself “what do I dream of?” – sit with that question and channel your dreams and desires for the future.
• Come together as a group to share your dreams one at a time. Everyone speaks. Everyone listens.
• As you go round multiple times you build on each other’s dreams and start to build a collective vision for the future.
• Capture the commonalities and discuss the points of divergence.
• Aim to come out of this exercise with a vision for the future that the group as a whole can agree on, something the motivates and drives everyone to work towards building a better future.

Dreaming is a fundamental part of anti-oppression work, so build a space where people from different backgrounds and different life experiences can honestly share their dreams for a future. Take time to articulate not just what liberation would look like, but what it would feel like. 

Many thanks to Dragon Dreaming for the inspiration for this adapted version of this exercise!

These three tools aim to help you build a better understanding of how different systems of oppression manifest within the campaign problem you have identified. But anti-oppressive practice should also be embedded throughout the campaign strategy process. Use the insights you develop here to build campaign narratives and strategies that combat systems of oppression. Use your collective vision to mobilise people to work towards making that shared dream a lived reality.