Michaela O’Brien

1. EVOLUTION AND INNOVATION:
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM
OUR ACTIVIST HISTORY?
ECF 14 April 2016
Michaela O’Brien, @michaelao
Course leader, MA in Media, Campaigning and Social Change, University of Westminster

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W6-4nEv9lA

3. Charles Booth’s
C19th survey of
poverty in London

4. Friends of the Earth at
Newbury Bypass 1996:
framed as an issue of
‘middle England’
pioneered use of legal
observers, tree camps,
tunnels
early use of alternative
media: first campaign
website used to bypass
media representation
of protest
Photo by Adrian Fisk: https://web.archive.org/web/19970713053007/http://www.foe.co.uk/action/newbury/images/index.html

5. UK Feminista's lobby of
parliament 2012 evokes the spirit
of Emmeline Pankhurst.
Photograph: Sarah Lee for the
Guardian

7. REPACKAGINGTACTICS:
SYMBOLIC ACTION ANDVISUALS
Stunts and photocalls,
marches, rallies, non violent
direct action
Boycotts and strikes
Infographics, maps, images,
logos, slogans and colours
The arts: protest songs, films
and documentaries, craftivism

8. REPACKAGINGTACTICS: USINGTHE
MEDIA AND POLITICAL SYSTEM
Reports, statistics, surveys, human
interest stories, celebrities -
playing to the news agenda and
editorial policy
Petitions, briefing and lobbying to
influence politicians
Alternative media, leaflets and
newsletters to mobilise
Brandjamming, spoof ads and mash
ups to highlight corporate actions

9. THERE ARE SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAYSTO
CATALOGUETHE HISTORY OF
CAMPAIGNS…

10. …THROUGH DEVELOPMENTS IN
THE MEDIA (BARINGHORST 2009)
Pre-modern campaigns from C19th to 1950s: interpersonal
communication e.g. leaflets, door to door, rallies, buttons and
some third party endorsement by the media
Modern campaigns from 1950s to 1980s: new TV-friendly tactics
emerge eg stunts and photo opportunities, soundbites, celebrities
and human interest / personalisation
Post-modern campaigns; 1980s to date: online media enables
participatory tactics and co-creation of content, personalisation
through big data / data analysis, upscaling of old tactics - petitions

11. …THROUGH SOCIAL CONTEXT
(HILDER 2007)
Hilder’s timeline of campaigning is mapped to social and
political developments:
Origins (legal space for assembly, the press, urbanisation)
20th century (improved rights, wider right to vote)
Consumerism of causes (globalisation, individualism)
Social network power (grassroots activism online)

12. …AND BY ISSUE OR APPROACH
(DEMETRIOUS 2013)
Burgmann (in Demetrious 2013):
pre 1960s mostly trade unions and workers rights
post 1960s more about issues and identity politics: gender, race, sexuality
end of millennium universalist issues e.g. peace and environmental
movement
Doyle (in Demetrious 2013): three stages of environmental protest in
Australia:
outsider radical > collaborative insider approach > insider: business

13. EVOLUTION AND INNOVATION
What sparks new ideas and new types of campaign
communications?
Context: is there a window of opportunity? What new tech /
media / zeitgeist / cultural / political shifts offer new
possibilities?
Knowledge: research and horizon scanning, resources and
professionalism, body of knowledge and academic insights
‘Open source’ campaigning: free of restrictions, a fresh eye

14. WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM
OUR HISTORY?
to celebrate success (and
learn from failure)
to draw on others’ inspiration
to feed our own
not to reinvent the wheel
that context is everything and
strategy must dictate tactics
that our own historiography
must be inclusive

15. WHERETO FIND OUT MORE
More about Charles Booth: http://booth.lse.ac.uk/
Paul Hilder (2007) Contentious Citizens
Baringhorst, S. Introduction: Political Campaigning in
Changing Media Cultures in Baringhorst et al (eds)
(2009) Political Campaigning on the Web. Bielefeld:
Demetrious (2013) PR and Activism
https://www.foe.co.uk/page/big-ideas-history
Pop and Politics: Spotify list of protest songs compiled
by Steve Gamble via crowdsourcing from activist
communities on social media
2015 BBC 2 documentary Suffragettes Forever! by
historian AmandaVickery
Queen Mary University 2015 seminar papers: http://
www.historyandpolicy.org/dialogues/discussions/
women-peace-and-transnational-activism-a-century-
on
https://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-this-is-
the-age-of-dissent-and-theres-much-more-to-
come-52871
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-
berkshire-35132815
http://threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org/?p=545
O’Brien, M (2015), Movement for Change,
Communication Director 01/2015