Toolbox:

An interconnected web of the key strategies and tactics that have inspired people-powered victories & upended the status quo. Start anywhere and explore…

Theory

Framing

Framing

Like the frame around a photograph, a conceptual frame highlights certain events and facts, while making others invisible. Effectively framing your message can make the difference between winning and losing.

Principle

Think narratively

Think narratively

Sometimes the best response to a powerful enemy is a powerful story.

Methodology

Battle of the story

Battle of the story

Harness the power of stories to expose oppressive beliefs and show how another reality is possible.

Theory

Memes

Memes

Memes are self-replicating units of cultural information that spread virally from mind to mind, network to network, generation to generation.

Principle

Lead with sympathetic characters

Lead with sympathetic characters

Good actions tell a good story. Good stories revolve around sympathetic characters. The most sympathetic characters are members of the impacted community that outsiders can easily relate to.

Principle

Show, don’t tell

Show, don’t tell

Use metaphor, visuals, and action to show your message rather than falling into preaching, hectoring, or otherwise telling your audience what to think.

Story

Daycare Centre Sit-In

Daycare Centre Sit-In

Single moms pressured a public housing official for a daycare centre by not just sitting-in at his office, but actually turning his office into the daycare centre they needed.

Principle

Reframe the issue

Reframe the issue

The surest way to win an argument is to redefine the terms of the debate — by highlighting voices, values, and solutions that have been left out of the dominant story.

Methodology

Action star

Action star

A checklist of 8 key factors for planning & evaluating actions.

Principle

Make your group comfortable and your target uncomfortable

Make your group comfortable and your target uncomfortable

Master community organizer Saul Alinsky counsels activists to "Never go outside the expertise of your people" and "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy."

Story

Taco Bell Boycott

Taco Bell Boycott

In 2005, farm workers in Florida, US, led a nationwide boycott of Taco Bell. They eventually won a historic victory, raising wages and setting an inspiring example for farm worker organizing.

Story

Citizens’ Posse

Citizens’ Posse

In the final days of a stalled push to reform healthcare in the US, a “citizens’ posse” gathered to arrest those responsible for the gridlock.

Story

Bidder 70 (Tim DeChristopher)

Bidder 70 (Tim DeChristopher)

In December 2008, Tim DeChristopher disrupted an auction of Utah oil and gas drilling leases by bidding, and winning, many parcels. He then used his arrest and trial to make the case for bolder climate action.