Strong movements start with community
Guest blog by Natasha Adams
Social Movement Researcher & Strategist
We need to feel togetherness to act together
In polarising and trying times, with the far right gaining public support, poisoning politics and threatening communities, we need projects that bridge across differences more than ever. We can’t take collective action unless we work in collaboration, towards aims we share. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless, but we don’t need to feel this way. The media we’re fed often concentrates on everything going wrong and how divided we are, but all over the UK there are people doing brilliant work, strengthening communities and leveraging their power.
I’m writing this to share a bit of that hope by spotlighting a couple of examples of the amazing work happening to push back on division and build a better future. If you’d like to hear even more about these projects and many others, join us at the Social Change Nest’s Wild Times Gathering on the 15th of September in Birmingham to fill your cup with inspiration, hope and connection.
Finding Common Ground
I spoke to Anthea Lawson, experienced changemaker and author of the excellent ‘How Not to Save the World’ about her involvement with Common Ground – a volunteer run project which takes political questions onto high streets to draw people into conversation about what is actually important to them.
Common Ground builds on a tool developed by the South Devon Primary, a successful community project which ousted a sitting Conservative MP through formation of a progressive voting block during the 2024 general election.
Volunteers (3 at a time) take to their local high street with questions written up on a flip chart and a supply of sticky dots. They ask passers by to place a dot to say whether they agree, disagree or don’t know about statements on topical issues – things like the scapegoating of migrants, the prospects of younger people, Brexit and climate change (see the picture for an example). Then if people are up for sharing more about their thoughts, the volunteers start by listening, building rapport and connection, before gently countering any obvious disinformation and sharing their own views. The approach really works to engage across differences of opinion and to move towards finding common ground. As Anthea told me:
“When people say things I disagree with, I paraphrase what they’ve said and repeat back to check I understand and then say ‘The thing that worries me is…’. Not ‘Did you know that…’ I share my own fears and feelings. Often you find a bunch of things you agree on, even if not everything.”
The project affords all participants, both volunteers and passersby, the opportunity to experience themselves as someone who has political views and political agency, as well as space to think through their political views in conversation without fear of judgement. These opportunities are often lacking in people’s lives.
One of the clear takeaways Anthea shared from her time volunteering on the project is that most people care about the same things, and while the far right can hook their agenda into these common concerns, this isn’t an inevitable process. It can be interrupted. To quote Anthea again:
“Most people want the same things; to live with dignity, look after their family, have enough cash left for a bit of fun, do work that’s not rubbish and live in a place that’s safe and pleasant. Of course people do have different ideas about how to get there, but most don’t have strong ideological views. What we’re really seeing close up is the effect of the manipulation that goes on. Our political views consist of things we’re being bombarded with, everything we’ve heard on the surface – then there’s all the stuff underneath which is a great mixture – our class background, parents and family, work, life, material struggles, personality. What Reform are doing is hooking their agenda on to the top level of that. We need to interrupt it… The conversations give me great hope.”
Resourcing for community power
My second interview was with Martha Mackenzie, the Executive Director of Civic Power Fund – an intermediary funder founded in 2022 to build people power through investing in community organising. The Social Change Nest is their fiscal host of choice when it comes to supporting unincorporated groups.
In an era of increasing polarisation, investing in the ability of people to work together and shape their future is an incredibly effective way to protect democracy and achieve lasting change. Civic Power Fund invests in projects building long term relationships and collective power, mostly in communities who struggle to access funding. They have specific projects to build power of communities rooted in place (in Manchester and North Wales) and identity (including migrants, women and young people), as well as offering support to core organising projects and the infrastructure that supports them across the country.
Despite the difficulties faced by many grantees, Martha told me she still feels hopeful:
“[What gives me hope for the future is] organising – always. What is actually happening at a grassroots level. I found the coverage of the racist violence in Northern Ireland stark. It was very scary, but the news didn’t cover the incredible community response, the number of organisations creating spaces of sanctuary, resisting and pushing back. We don’t see it. There are so many pockets of solidarity. We need to amplify and resource them. It gives me hope as it shows most people don’t want that [violence].”
Hear more and join the conversation
Martha Mackenzie will be speaking on the opening plenary of the Wild Times Gathering, and Anthea Lawson will be running a workshop offering training in Common Ground’s approach. If you’d like to join them on the 15th of September you can get your ticket here (starting from just £1!).
I’m also going to be at the conference running a workshop with Uncharitable’s Martha Awojobi for grassroots groups to think through what the authoritarian far right means for their work, now and in the future.
If you’d like to discuss movement building further, why not join us at the Wild Times Gathering in Birmingham on the 15th of September? We’d love to see you there!
