We’re not one of those organisations that thinks it knows it all. Far from it. We love connecting with new people, talking to them and finding out what inspires them. Doing this opens our eyes to new thinking and new ways of approaching or framing the problems our clients need help to fix.
We also think it’s important to share this inspiration rather than hoard it. So we’re starting a new series of blog posts where we ask some of the people who’ve had the biggest impact on us to share the books that have had the biggest impact on them.
We’re calling it, imaginatively, Rally Reads.
We kick off with campaigner Georgie Laming, who takes us through her top reads for campaigners on mobilising, community organising and anti-racism.
Georgie is a campaigner and movement builder who has worked for some of the biggest campaigning organisations in the UK including 38 Degrees, Save the Children and the National Union of Students. Georgie writes about mobilising and organising at www.georgielaming.com. We love Georgie, she’s a constant inspiration to us and definitely one of those people you want on your team. Quite simply, she gets shit done. What follows is from Georgie…
MEMOIRS AND BIG STORIES
Whether you are sick of theory books, love an origin story or just want to hear all the gossip, you can’t go wrong with a campaign memoir.
Audacity to win (David Plouffe)
This book follows the 2008 Obama election campaign from the perspective of staffer David Plouffe: the battle to win the Democratic primaries, the fallout from the Reverend Wright controversy and how it felt to finally win. For campaign nerds, there’s a nice section about how Obama’s campaign revolved around a messaging triangle - if the topic wasn’t in their triangle they ignored it. I got so caught up in this I was on tenterhooks hoping Obama could pull it out of the bag, years after he secured his first term in the White House.
Raising expectations and raising hell (Jane McAlevey)
This is probably one of my favourite books, full stop. Written by trade union legend Jane McAlevey you are taken from the Al Gore/ George Bush fight in Florida all the way through to organising nurses in Nevada. Jane teaches you important lessons about finding authentic leaders, how to put your organising structure to the test and recognising the rounded experience of those you’re organising with and for.
Other memoir books I love:
Janesville: An American Story (Amy Goldstein)
To Catch and Kill (Ronan Farrow)
Fall Out: A Year of Political Mayhem (Tim Shipman)
ANTI-RACISM AND INTERSECTIONAL CAMPAIGNING
For the last year, I’ve been working within the gender equality movement. These two books have kickstarted the process of me unlearning the lessons of white supremacy and critically examining how internalised racism can prevent campaigners from achieving long-lasting political change.
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women White Feminists Forgot (Mikki Kendall)
Kendall explores the links between issues such as gun violence, food poverty and housing with the gender equality movement and questions why feminist campaigners aren’t making them a priority (spoiler; our feminist leaders aren’t experiencing these issues). This book will have you raging every time you see a corporate #girlboss post online.
Me Too Not You (Alison Phipps)
Another book exploring the relationship between racism and the movement for gender equality. Phipps takes a look at how Tarana Burke’s #MeToo movement suddenly took off after white actress Alyssa Milano tweeted about it. White feminism in the MeToo movement relied on the criminal justice system to solve their problems, ignoring the roles of power and privilege and which women can truly access justice. If you’ve been curious about the rise of the prison abolition movement in 2020 then this is well worth a read.
COMMUNITY ORGANISING
You’ve probably heard the phrase community organising a lot but maybe you’re not sure what community organising is? These ones are for the purist in you.
Rules for Radicals (Saul Alinksy)
“Action comes from keeping the heat on. No politician can sit on a hot issue if you make it hot enough.”
Saul Alinksy is the godfather of community organising - quite literally since he was friends with the Chicago mob. Alinsky guides you from the very core lessons all the way through to some radical tactics choices (like a sh*t-in at O'hare airport) Not got time? Read this Playboy interview with Saul Alinsky here for highlights.
How organisations develop activists (Hahrie Han)
This carries on nicely from Alinksy. When I first read Alinsky, I was overwhelmed. I had no idea how to put this into practice. Han’s book mixes the core lessons of community organising with an exploration of scientific study and practice. Han follows membership organisations like MoveOn.org and the NRA to see how they work with grassroots organisations and shows us the true difference between mobilising and organising.
BIG ORGANISING AND MOVEMENT BUILDING
Do you believe in people power? These two books show what can happen when you hand over the organising to real people in their communities.
Rules for Revolutionaries: How Big Organizing Can Change Everything (Becky Bond and Zack Exley)
Straight from the Bernie Sanders campaign, this book covers key lessons on how to decentralise your campaign and get stuff done. Important lessons like “The work is distributed, the plan is centralised” and “The revolution is not just bottom-up but peer to peer”
Groundbreakers: How Obama's 2.2 Million Volunteers Transformed Campaigning In America (Elizabeth McKenna and Hahrie Han)
Obama’s 2008 campaign was led by the idea that to win they needed to grow their base of voters and reach people who had never engaged in electoral politics. For two years the campaign focused on registering people to vote through neighbourhood organising and by using their website www.mybarackobama.com they gave over the keys to community campaigners to set up campaigns. Groundbreakers focuses on all the lessons learnt by volunteers and senior staffers along the way.
ON GEORGIE’S 2021 READING LIST:
The Purpose of Power: How to build movements for the 21st Century (Alicia Garza)
White Tears Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Colour (Ruby Hamad)
The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice (Shon Faye)
Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World (Leslie Kern)
How To Change It: Make a Difference (Joshua Virasami)
Huge thanks to Georgie for sharing this inspiring list. We hope you found it useful and that you add some of these books to your reading list. And don't be surprised if we approach you and ask you to give us your recommended reading and share some of the books that inspire you.
Main photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash