Citizen Whip Counts and Other New Organizing Models
The tools available to today’s activists online are making the old organizing models from the 60’s – 90’s irrelevant and obsolete. Safety experts testifying to Congress helped Ralph Nader pass seatbelt laws in 1960, but today a blog or online organization can send that testimony out directly to millions of people in seconds. The massive coalitions which once helped pass environmental protections now find themselves struggling to keep up with smaller, more nimble online groups.
Today’s technology enables 10 dedicated activists to accomplish what it took thousands to do just a few decades ago. This session will explore some of the new organizing models being developed to help fight the progressive battles of the 21st century.
Jane Hamsher is the founder and publisher of Firedoglake.com. She has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, Al Jazeera, PBS, and the BBC. She is the author of the best-selling book Killer Instinct, and she has produced such films “Natural Born Killers” and “Permanent Midnight.”
