Economic Justice Brum is a social movement seeking to increase economic justice across and beyond the city of Birmingham. It is powerful to see ourselves as part of the same movement and to explore what this means, so that we can work more collaboratively, more strategically, and so we can succeed in our aims.
At NEON, an organisation offering support and training for those working across movement building, social movements are thought of as being made up of multiple groups using multiple approaches to challenge a shared problem, with different visions for the world they want to see.
It is a shared problem that unites a movement, and groups in the movement will have different reasons for challenging this problem and different approaches to fighting it.
You might be sharing with decision-makers your story about struggling to afford basic necessities, campaigning for safe and affordable housing, or building alternative economic infrastructure to support community needs.
Whatever the role that you, your group or your organisation plays within the movement, you will fit into one of these 3 core approaches:
You may feel that you / your organisation fits into more than one of these approaches - the lines between them can be blurry! However, if we concentrate on the primary end that you or your organisation/group is trying to achieve then this tool can help us to think more strategically about our movements.
The Economic Justice Alliance will be using this framework to structure our upcoming Alliance meetings, with a view to enhance our strategic focus, and fortify and build our movement.
Below are some definitions and examples of each of the three approaches.
