Student climate strikers have sought to get local and national authorities to “treat the climate crisis as a crisis” by passing climate emergency declarations. The NGO Climate Mobilization now estimates that over 221 million people are represented by governmental entities that have made such declarations. This fundamental reframing work is a strategic first step in galvanizing power of ordinary citizens around the world to pressure their governments to take action.

We can engage through small acts of support, by improving our knowledge about movements, and by applying that knowledge in our daily activities and conversations. If profiles as diverse as an anthropologist in Puerto Rico, a director of a good governance NGO in Zimbabwe, a citizen journalist in Singapore, a National Minister of Culture in Armenia, a professor of peace psychology, and a front-line activist against modern-day slavery in Mauritania can do this, then ordinary, conscientious world citizens like us can too. […]

As the climate crisis becomes more prominent and imminent, we often look for top down change when problems so profound and systemic must also be addressed from the bottom up. Everyday citizens can slash emissions and move the planet toward environmental sustainability—especially if they leverage their power at the community and city levels. Around the world, this is already a growing reality […]

This summer will bring the 400th anniversary of enslaved Africans’ first landing in the United States. As their numbers grew, so too did the oppression they faced and, increasingly, its cruelty was codified as law. Colonial oppressors had their laws then, and modern despots have theirs today. They can ban the meetings, shut down Twitter, and burn the books. But the indomitable, immutable human spirit always finds a workaround. […]

Throughout history, civil resistance movements in North America have included preachers, healers, spiritual leaders, and creative artists who have helped to rouse the public out of complacency while providing nourishment, inspiration, and consolation to those on the frontlines of the struggle. […]

In response to dwindling public trust in their officials and institutions, authoritarian governments in many Southeast Asian countries are exploiting “fake news” as a political tool against their critics. This growing trend can be understood as systematic attempts to undermine the men, women, and organizations behind these dissenting opinions […]

He pasado la mayor parte de mi corta vida de adulto consolidando y liderando una organización cuyo objetivo es apoyar a los movimientos de resistencia. Desde 2012, Solidaridad Uganda ha pasado de ser un colectivo local de voluntarios en una comunidad campesina remota a una red internacional de apoyo a movimientos de resistencia de base en más de 70 países. […]

The Harry Potter bug never bit me. Glancing at the back cover of Rivera Sun’s The Way Between (Rising Sun Press Works, 2016) last month, my first thought was “I’m not sure this is my genre.” But I had noticed the novel making its way around my professional circles for some time, so I was curious to see for myself what the buzz was about. […]

Anti-corruption movements, campaigns, and civic initiatives have become a familiar phenomenon in civil resistance and reform-oriented uprisings in many countries, particularly in the Global South. But what specific tactics and broader approach can people utilize to turn an anti-corruption movement into real change?