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Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

Luke Bretherton

24 episodes

7 months ago

In this final episode of season two I continue discussing the relationship between the Bible and organizing. I begin by talking to Keisha Krumm, who opened the first episode of season one (you can hear more about her journey there). Here she gives a reading of Luke 18, or what she renames the parable of the tenacious widow, and reflects on what Scripture means to her in her work. I then talk to Alexia Salvatierra. Alexia shares something of her background, her formation as an organizer, and o...

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Religion & Spirituality,

Society & Culture

All content for Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics is the property of Luke Bretherton and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

In this final episode of season two I continue discussing the relationship between the Bible and organizing. I begin by talking to Keisha Krumm, who opened the first episode of season one (you can hear more about her journey there). Here she gives a reading of Luke 18, or what she renames the parable of the tenacious widow, and reflects on what Scripture means to her in her work. I then talk to Alexia Salvatierra. Alexia shares something of her background, her formation as an organizer, and o...

Show more...

Religion & Spirituality,

Society & Culture

Episodes (20/24)

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S2.E8: The Bible & Democratic Organizing - Part 2

In this final episode of season two I continue discussing the relationship between the Bible and organizing. I begin by talking to Keisha Krumm, who opened the first episode of season one (you can hear more about her journey there). Here she gives a reading of Luke 18, or what she renames the parable of the tenacious widow, and reflects on what Scripture means to her in her work. I then talk to Alexia Salvatierra. Alexia shares something of her background, her formation as an organizer, and o...

2 years ago

53 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S2.E8: The Bible & Democratic Organizing - Part 1

In this and the final episode of this second series I discuss the relationship between the Bible and organizing. The turn to Scripture to imagine and narrate politics is often assumed to be the preserve of authoritarian theocrats. But since the formal development of community organizing in the 1930s, and long before that, texts from the Bible are consistently used to both teach democratic organizing and envision the need for radical, democratic change. The use of Scripture in this way builds ...

2 years ago

1 hour 2 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S2.E7: Bernard Crick on Politics & its Enemies

This episode discusses the work of British philosopher Bernard Crick, with a particular focus on is his seminal essay “In Defence of Politics.” In clear prose and with sharp insight, Crick sets out a definition of politics and an account of why and how politics is essential not simply to survive but to thrive. Community organizers, alongside many others, have turned to Crick's essay again and again to explain the meaning, purpose, and character of democratic politics. I discuss Crick's polit...

2 years ago

1 hour 15 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S2.E6: Sheldon Wolin & Radical Democracy

This episode discusses the work of the influential American political thinker, Sheldon Wolin. Wolin is one of the foremost theorists of radical democracy. His insights are also extremely helpful in naming the contemporary forces and dynamics that undermine and subvert democracy - all in the name of being democratic. Like other figures discussed in this series he writes in a compelling way, drawing on a diverse range of sources including historical examples, the Bible, and contemporary c...

3 years ago

1 hour 28 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S2.E5: Hannah Arendt

This episode discusses the work of the hugely influential political theorist, Hannah Arendt, and how it provides profound insights into the nature and purpose of both politics and democratic organizing. Arendt's books include the Origins of Totalitarianism, Eichmann in Jerusalem, The Human Condition, and On Revolution. These works, along with her numerous essays, are vital for understanding the politics both of her day and ours. I discuss Arendt’s understanding of politics, power, viole...

3 years ago

1 hour 39 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S2.E4.2: Bayard Rustin - Part 2

Building on the previous episode, this one continues to discuss the work of Bayard Rustin and the overlapping struggles that shaped his vision of democracy and his approach to organizing. I do so with Harry Boyte. We focus on Rustin’s practice as an organizer, his conception of nonviolence as a form of democratic politics, and how to understand Rustin’s classic 1964 essay “From Protest to Politics,” as well as what Rustin has to teach us today. Along the way, Harry tells dramatic storie...

3 years ago

1 hour 12 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S2.E4.1: Bayard Rustin - Part 1

This episode discusses the remarkable figure of Bayard Rustin who pioneered many of the tactics and strategies still used in large scale organizing work. A lifelong and committed Quaker, Rustin is in many ways a paradoxical figure. A utopian realist or pragmatic radical he was criticized for many of the positions he took yet his commitment to people power manifested through nonviolent, democratic means of change and his holistic vision of social, economic, and political transformation was dee...

3 years ago

1 hour 16 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

Ep3.2: Ella Baker - Part 2

In this second part of the episode on Ella Baker, I talk to Gerald Taylor. We discuss the influence Baker’s approach and vision had on him as an organizer, how he sees her understanding of organizing play out on the ground, and his own involvement in myriad grassroots democratic initiatives. Along the way, he recounts a compelling set of stories and reflections on what it means to do organizing in the spirit of Ella Baker. Guest Gerald Taylor was a national senior organizer with the Industr...

3 years ago

44 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S2.E.3.1: Ella Baker - Part 1

This episode discusses the work of Ella Baker and the different traditions and influences that shaped her organizing and her understanding of democracy. Baker didn’t write much and what she did write is not widely available. Instead, her approach is taught through accounts of it by historians of the civil rights movement and her biographers. So it is her life and practice that I focus on in this two part episode. In part 1 of the episode I discuss Baker's biography, her vision of democracy, a...

3 years ago

1 hour 26 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S2.E2.2: Saul Alinsky - Part 2

This two-part episode discusses the work of Saul Alinsky, the “dean of community organizing” and the different traditions and influences that shaped his democratic vision. The key texts discussed are his two books: “Reveille for Radicals” published in 1946, and his more well known latter book, “Rules for Radicals,” written in 1971. In this second part of the episode I to talk to Mike Miller. Mike started out in politics as part of the early stirrings of the student movement at UC Berkeley. Fr...

3 years ago

52 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S2.E2.1: Saul Alinsky - Part 1

This two-part episode discusses the work of Saul Alinsky, the “dean of community organizing,” and the different traditions and influences that shaped his democratic vision. The key texts discussed are his two books: “Reveille for Radicals” published in 1946, and his more well known later book, “Rules for Radicals,” written in 1971. In this first part of this two part episode I discuss Alinsky, his writings, and his legacy with Amanda Tattersall. Amanda currently directs the Policy Lab at Sydn...

3 years ago

45 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S2.E1: Thucydides and the Athenian-Melian Dialog

With Jed Atkins, I discuss Thucydides understanding of politics, how he has shaped the history of political thought, and the context for him writing "The History of the Peloponnesian War." We then focus on a passage from "The History" known as the Athenian-Melian dialog, reflecting together on the ways this dialogue frames the relationship between power and politics. In the second part, I discuss with Anna Eng why the dialogue is drawn on by community organizers to teach democratic politics a...

3 years ago

1 hour 15 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

Introduction to Season 2

A brief introduction to the new season of the Listen, Organize, Act! Podcast. This season explores the people, texts, and ideas that organizers have turned to again and again to inspire shared action and explain the meaning, purpose, and character of democratic politics. I start the series with an episode on the ancient Greek historian, Thucydides. A passage from his book The History of the Peloponnesian War is constantly used to teach about the relationship between power and politics. ...

3 years ago

2 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S1.E11: Campaigns as Public Action

This episode discusses the process of identifying an issue, developing a campaign to address that issue, and the kinds of public action a successful campaign involves. How organizing develops and conducts campaigns is different to how many other kinds of campaign are run, whether that be an election campaign or an advertising campaign. To discuss with me the distinctive approach to campaigns and how they constitute a form of public action that not only wins change, but also builds up a ...

4 years ago

1 hour 14 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S1.E10: Strategy, Tactics, & Direct Action

This episode examines the ways organizing develops a strategy to bring about change, the kinds of tactics used to achieve change, and the different kinds of democratic action involved in moving from the world as it is towards a more just and generous one. To ground the discussion it focuses on the initiation, development, and success of a campaign run by Common Ground in Milwaukee which addressed the foreclosure crisis there in the wake of the 2007-08 financial crisis. This serves as a case s...

4 years ago

1 hour 12 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S1.E9: Organized Money II: Economic Democracy & the Solidarity Economy

This episode focuses on is how to organize money so that it fosters the flourishing of where we live and work through generating different kinds of institutions and ways of building wealth in a community to those that dominate the existing economy. Alternative, more democratic forms of economic production and investment and ways of structuring work and ownership are needed to address economic inequality, issues of racial equity, and the need for environmentally attuned forms of business...

4 years ago

1 hour 6 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S1.E8: Organized Money I: Money Power & Fundraising

This episode discusses the positive and negative ways money and politics connect and the means to organize money through politics so it serves human flourishing. Democratic politics has always involved a struggle to ensure money serves people rather than people serving money. The paradox is that, to do so, democratic politics necessities not just organizing people, but also organizing, or better, re-organizing money. The conversation in this episode about organizing money has two sides to it....

4 years ago

1 hour 1 minute

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S1.E7: Popular Education: Organizing Knowledge & Learning to be Political

This episode focuses on popular education, discussing what it is and why it’s key to good democratic organizing with Ernesto Cortes, Jr. Alongside organized money, organized people, and organized action, building power to effect change requires organized knowledge. Organized knowledge generates the frameworks of analysis and understanding through which to re-narrate and reimagine the world, destabilizing the dominant scripts and ideas that legitimate oppression. But rather than be driven by i...

4 years ago

44 minutes

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S1.E6: Institutions: Why They're Vital for Democratic Politics

Building on the previous episodes on power and leadership, in this episode I examine the place of institutions in organizing, discussing what is an institution, what makes for a healthy institution, how and why institutions are central to the kind of place-based, relationally driven democratic politics organizing undertakes, and why without them the individual is left naked before the power of the market and the state. Also reflected on is a key rule of organizing, which is that all organizin...

4 years ago

1 hour 1 minute

Listen, Organize, Act! Organizing & Democratic Politics

S1.E5: Leadership, But Not As You Know It

This episode discusses the nature and purpose of leadership in organizing, how it is defined and understood, who are leaders, the difference between leaders and organizers, and what their respective roles are in the shared work of organizing. The understanding and practice of leadership in organizing is very different to that put forward in most leadership training programs, institutes, and business schools. It is counter cultural and embodies a deep wisdom about leadership that can be applie...

4 years ago

1 hour 2 minutes