TROUBLEMAKERS

Episode 6: The NGOization of Resistance

Bel dan pa di zanmi (Just because someone is smiling at you doesn't mean they're your friend) — Haitian proverb
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and people powered movements, resistance, revolution, it’s all a complex relationship, fraught with many challenges as well as potential! Campaigning organizations such as ActionAid have a history of engaging with movements but are now asking how they can do this better.In this episode, we speak with Joy Mabenge and David Archer, two NGO leaders and activists at heart, about systems change.Check Out the Theory The NGOization of Resistance: when frontline organizers spend more time writing grant reports than changing the system, something is wrong. People most impacted by injustice, not those working for big non-profits, should drive the movement.

Episode 2: Cooperation Jackson and Solidarity Economics

We speak with Sacajawea Hall, activist and co-founder of Cooperation Jackson — an emerging vehicle for sustainable community development, economic democracy, and community ownership — on solidarity economics, a tradition of radical economic organizing that strives to replace dependance on exploitative and oppressive economic relations through ‘solidarity chains’ linking community-based alternatives.  Read more about Solidarity Economics at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/solidarity-economics and https://solutions.thischangeseverything.org/module/solidarity-economics. Learn more about Cooperation Jackson, economic democracy, the Jackson-Kush Plan, and more at https://cooperationjackson.org/.
 

Episode 5: Reframe the Issue

Reframing is a process of replacing an old story with a new one by widening the frame, narrowing the frame, or shifting the frame to another scene entirely. The powers-that-be usually go to great lengths to frame their agenda in a way that is favorable for their interests. Just think of how we’ve heard these words used: tax relief. Like a camera’s viewfinder, the frame of a narrative focuses the public on specific information that reflects the interests of the framers. So how do you reframe an issue? Our guest Mumbi Ruth shares how Kenyan organizers are reframing issues with nationwide reverberations.Read more about the principle of Reframing the Issue at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/reframe-the-issue/.
 
 

Episode 4: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

We speak to Mahmoud Nawajaa, General Coordinator for the Palestinian-led global movement Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) National Committee. Inspired by the movement against Apartheid in South Africa, the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and more, we look at how decentralized tactics such as boycott and divestment — as used in the Palestinian struggle on a global scale — can be used to isolate a target, in this case, the Israeli apartheid regime.Read more about the tactic of divestment at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/divestment/.
 
We also talked briefly about consumer boycotts (including their limitations). Read more about this tactic at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/consumer-boycott/.
 
Mahmoud also shared about the Dump Veolia Campaign. Learn more about its monumental achievements at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/dump-veolia-campaign. 
 
Learn more about the BDS Campaign and how to get involved at https://bdsmovement.net/. 
 

Episode 3: Decolonization

If Frantz Fanon woke up today he’d be like, “You guys are still talking about decolonization, I thought we addressed that in the 60’s. What the f*** happened?” We speak to Alieu Bah and Sungu Oyoo on decolonization, a set of ideas, lived experiences, and political programs that challenge imperialism through forms of bottom-up disobedience to historical and ongoing colonization.
 
Read more about decolonization at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/decolonization.
 
Sungu also wrote and edited several pieces for the Beautiful Trouble toolbox. One most related to this conversation pertains to New Pan-Afrikanism, which can be found at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/new-pan-afrikanism. 
 
Information on Mwamko can be found at https://mwamko.org/. 

Episode 1: Conflict Kitchen

Amidst growing radicalization of public debate around refugees and migrants in Poland, a conscious restaurant serves dishes from regions of active conflict around the world for Warsaw locals. With Jarmila Rybicka, co-founder of Conflict Kitchen, we talk food and solidarity. We learn how preparing and sharing a delicious dish can offer many points of entry for public engagement and cultural exchange.
 
Read more about a Pittsburgh version of Conflict Kitchen at https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/conflict-kitchen. 
Follow Kuchnia Konfliktu on https://www.instagram.com/kuchniakonfliktu or https://www.facebook.com/kuchniakonfliktu/. 
 

About Troublemakers!

Learn more about the transcontinental partners behind this podcast! Global Platforms: https://www.globalplatforms.org/ Beautiful Trouble: https://beautifultrouble.org/ MS TCDC, The MS Training Centre for Development Cooperation: https://mstcdc.or.tz/MOVE, The Global Social Movement Centre: https://www.globalplatforms.org/move