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In the 10 minutes or so I have to myself each day, before my tornado of a child awakes, I've become fascinated by the reflections of the 3rd sector about campaigning and how to influence/1
Framing, narratives, focus, public opinion data, blah, blah /2
This article is a great example of the genre. It's well written, clear, and contains the apparently visionary insight about having immediate data to back up your ideas https://www.acevo.org.uk/2021/01/what-do-we-know-about-this-government-and-what-can-we-learn-about-ourselves/
This is not a criticism of the author, as if someone is new to campaigning, its a really great introduction to the essentials campaigners need to consider and ways in which the current government operate
But, it's not really written for brand new campaigners, and besides, those new to campaigning are usually far too full of outrage and energy to take any notice of such pieces. It's written for a sector which supposedly includes expert change making at its core.
Over the past 10-15 years, I have just lost count of the myriad of change making, influencing, how to include, how to lead projects, groups and campaigns I've seen come and go. Some organisations have done this well, thoughtfully & embedded lived experience into their working
Mostly, if I'm honest, its a load of old crap that doesn't change anything or anyone except the budget of the organisation.
Advice that you need to change public opinion, have data and focus tells you everything you need to know about the 3rd sector when you consider that the 3rd sector is the intended audience of this piece
Way back in 2010, when austerity was yet to wipe out so many of the structures upon which people relied, there was a wave of new campaigners coming together via social media. Disability campaigners led the way because the existing organisations just weren't doing anything
From those seeds, all sorts of shoots grew; groups who specialised in direct action, those who used the new, digital platforms to shape the narrative and lobby directly. And the 3rd sector, who, with some exceptions, carried doing what they'd always done
Right. That is my peaceful, reflective 10 minutes up. I will have to return and finish the story of reliably, repeatedly getting what you want in a campaigning context, later
Back to the reliably, repeatedly, how to achieve change story..
Back in 2010, framing was not a thing called framing. We called it spin. @suey2y and I used to have a favourite game, we called it 'what would Alistair do'. Also, see 'what would George, Gordon, Tony or Dave do'
Back in 2010, framing was not a thing called framing. We called it spin. @suey2y and I used to have a favourite game, we called it 'what would Alistair do'. Also, see 'what would George, Gordon, Tony or Dave do'
We were also obsessed with evidence. We'd had the benefit of Rhydian's knowledge of how to play the parliamentary system and a gut instinct that public opinion drove change and how to put all those factors together. And, crucially, it never occurred to us not to do things
So, we spent alot of time doing things like briefing the press. Obviously we didn't call it that, but having watched a great deal of The West Wing and In The Thick of It, our playbook included an awful lot of talking to journalists
We also focused on talking to people who most profoundly disagreed with us because, long before there was such a thing as a twitter echo chamber to consider, it was quite obvious that those who already agreed with us, did not need our time to change their minds
