A Brief Guide to Action
By Hughie Nicklason.
This Essay was first posted in ‘Just Us Journal’.
We are living in a time of unprecedented crises. The climate, ecological and pollution catastrophes threaten all life on Earth. The ten warmest years on record have occurred in the past decade, extinction rates are thousands of times the pre-industrialisation rate, and our air, lands and waters are laden with waste, chemicals and plastics.
Concurrently, social and economic crises ravage global society. Inequality is at an all time high and rising, driving increases in poverty, houselessness and hunger.
The resulting rise of the reactionary far-right is manufacturing increasing attacks on marginalised groups. Meanwhile, genocides and conflicts in Palestine, Congo, Sudan, West Papua and more are broadcast to us on screens. Does it not feel dystopian?
Looking for solutions to these issues, you will soon realise that the governments and institutions that you thought might fix them are in fact complicit. Our global and national leaders appear to support the extractivism, exploitation, war and austerity you oppose. Staring these grim realities in the face you might soon ask - what can I do?
The first step toward action is to educate yourself. You will want to begin by versing yourself in the contemporary dominant ideologies that we live under: neoliberal capitalism and western imperialism. From here, gain an understanding of white supremacy, patriarchy, classism, ableism, and capitalism and colonialism more generally. Online search engines should provide a basic understanding for each of these.
In ‘Australia’, it is necessary now to think about the power structures we live under and our own identities. This will beg the questions:
How did Australia come to exist?
What is ‘Australianness’?
Follow these with:
What is the history of the land on which I live?
Who were my ancestors and how did they get here?
Who am I in relation to ‘Australia’?
Reading First Nations authors will greatly inform your understanding - a good starting point is the ‘Foley Collection’, which is accessible for free online through Victoria University.
Whilst educating yourself, taking local action is the next step. You will soon find that you cannot do this alone. Here you will face a decision: join an existing group, establish a new collective, or get together with a group of friends to take autonomous action. Informing yourself on the concepts of liberation, intersectionality, and relationality will do wonders for your ‘activist literacy’ and network building. Learning the ins and outs of specific issues will empower you to be effective in setting targets and executing a plan. Accepting yourself and others as humans who make mistakes will help to foster realistic expectations and space for accountability.
Action in itself can take many forms, and can be employed for different strategic ends. You will need to meet as a group to decide your theory of change and begin planning. Community building strategies might include growing a garden on public land, starting a food pantry, providing community aid, hosting an event or establishing a community meeting space. More direct action could include disruption or costing a maliferous party money. Here is a blueprint for planning an action: pick a target, make a plan, complete an inventory, assign roles and tasks, and action it. Make sure to end every meeting with action points.
It will be important with growth that you and your comrades find effective ways to communicate. Internally, encrypted messaging apps work great, but where possible face-to-face communication is always best. Externally, communications can include social media, mainstream media, emailing, postering, flyering, and more subversive tactics such as culture jamming. Do not be surprised when the corporate media does not report on your actions or misrepresents you. Focus on establishing direct means of communication with your audience where possible.
By taking local action with an understanding of global and national power structures, you will position yourself as part of a growing resistance movement. Building relationships locally and abroad will increase collective capacity, create opportunities for learning new skills and allow for the development of shared vision. With critical mass, we can enact significant change, address the crises of our time, and create a safe and just future. Our collective action will define us - it matters that each and every one of us play our part.
This essay was inspired by Gary Foley’s 2011 article ‘The Answer is a Better Knowledge of History’, and my grassroots comrades - who give me hope for a future built on justice.
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