Community Organizing And Movement Building Publications and Resources

FNTG Changes its Name and Hones its Mission
May 3, 2010
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From Disaster Aid to Solidarity: Best Practices in Meeting the Needs of Haiti's Earthquake Survivors
April 27, 2010 - Beverly Bell, Other Worlds
At the request of the Platform to Advocate Alternative Development in Haiti (PAPDA), Other Worlds has produced a new report, "From Disaster Aid to Solidarity: Best Practices in Meeting the Needs of Haiti’s Earthquake Survivors." Written by Other Worlds Coordinator Beverly Bell, "From Disaster Aid to Solidarity" documents the problems with the international aid and reconstruction efforts in Haiti, and presents innovative alternative models of humanitarian relief  Read publication...

Why We Support the U.S. Social Forum Process
February 18, 2010 - FNTG
Funder Letter to the Philanthropic Community  Read publication...

Evaluating Copenhagen: What It Means for Ecology, Economy and Equity
February 17, 2010 - International Forum on Globalization
Video Link: Hosted by PBS news anchor, Ray Suarez, this public event included Martin Khor, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Maude Barlow, Gopal Dayaneni, Victor Menotti, and provided alternative perspectives on the outcomes of the December 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.  Read publication...

Honduras: Unsolved matters
January 1, 2010
“The situation in Honduras is graver than we could even imagine – a continuous violation of human rights.” - Bertha Oliva, (COFADEH) A small group of the Grant-makers Without Borders (GWOB) members has been in consultation with grassroots organizations in Honduras to find out more about the political situation in the post-election period.  Read publication...

Statement of Climate Justice Now! on the outcomes of the COP15
December 23, 2009
Call for “system change not climate change” unites global movement ... The Climate Justice Now! coalition, alongside other networks, was united here at COP15 in the call for System Change, Not Climate Change. In contrast, the Copenhagen climate conference itself demonstrated that real solutions, as opposed to false, market-based solutions, will not be adopted until we overcome the existing unjust political and economic system.  Read publication...

Fort Mason Process - Report and Next Steps
March 24, 2008 - FNTG
In January 2008 over fifty funders and donors were joined by two dozen movement leaders from in and outside the U.S. at Fort Mason in San Francisco to explore how better to support social justice movement-building. This report provides a summary of convening activities, feedback from assessment surveys and other documentation produced through this initiative. Most importantly, it provides an overview of the results of what was billed as an organizing meeting, outlining next steps that funders can engage in to build what we are calling the Fort Mason process – an ongoing effort among funders, with movement leaders, to encourage and increase support to social justice movement-building within philanthropy.  Read publication...

USSF 2010 Detroit Work Projects
January 24, 2010
The following project summaries describe initiatives being undertaken by Detroit communities in conjunction with the US Social Forum from June 22 - 26, 2010. They were compiled by Diana Copeland, Executive Director of the East Michigan Environmental Action Council, one of the anchor groups for the USSF process. For more information contact her at diana@emeac.org, 248.258.5188  Read publication...

USSF General Proposal
January 24, 2010
The National Planning Committee (NPC) of the United States Social Forum (USSF) is requesting general support to organize a second USSF in 2010. The USSF will convene from June 22 through June 26 in Detroit, MI, and will convene thousands of community, faith-based, labor, student and academic cultural leaders from a gamut of movements and sectors. The first USSF in Atlanta proved to be one of the most diverse national political convenings in recent memory. The year-long organizing process towards USSF2 is forging a new generation of relationships, collaborations and organizing initiatives among organizations and networks. It will help us define needed social movement infrastructure and identify the movement assets we currently have. The USSF will also project hope and vision for a grassroots led movement for social change.  Read publication...

More: FNTG @ COP15 -- 12/18/09
December 18, 2009
Climate Equity Information for Funders at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark  Read publication...

Letter to President Obama
December 18, 2009
"Climate change is an extreme threat to world peace, and in many cases, entire peoples’ survival. If ever there was a time for you to exert bold leadership, this is it. Last week you received the Nobel Peace Prize. Now, we call on you to earn it."  Read publication...

FNTG @ COP15 -- 12/18/09
December 18, 2009
Climate Equity Information for Funders at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark  Read publication...

FNTG @ COP15 -- 12/17/09
December 17, 2009
Climate Equity Information for Funders at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark  Read publication...

FNTG @ COP15 -- 12/15/09
December 15, 2009
Climate Equity Information for Funders at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark  Read publication...

FNTG @ COP15 -- 12/13/09
December 13, 2009
Climate Equity Information for Funders at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark  Read publication...

FNTG @ COP15 -- 12/12/09
December 12, 2009
Climate Equity Information for Funders at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark  Read publication...

FNTG @ COP15 -- 12/11/09
December 11, 2009
Climate Equity Information for Funders at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark  Read publication...

Tens of thousands rally in Copenhagen
December 12, 2009 - Sunanda Creagh and John Acher, Reuters
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FNTG Climate Equity Track eBooklet for COP15
December 9, 2009
This eBooklet includes information such as logistics, background documents, and a list of key activities & events. FNTG’S ‘climate equity track’ for funders will highlight civil society and developing country perspectives concerned with these issues, and provide you as best we can with ongoing information about formal and informal discussions and on local organizing and mobilizing efforts.  Read publication...

F/M Process: For Funders, With Movements, For Social Justice
June 14, 2009 - FNTG
An overview of the Funder/Movement initiative, including principles of engagement and key networks involved in the process  Read publication...

Changing the Flow - Water Movements in Latin America
March 16, 2009 - Other Worlds
In case after case around the world, water has been turned into a profi t-making commodity – preventing access to the most essential element on Earth. Pollution, corporate takeover, and the mismanagement of water ecosystems have resulted in dire water poverty and scarcity in many parts of the world. Private ownership of water and water-delivery systems does not resolve, but rather, compounds the longstanding and deep-seated abuse, neglect, mismanagement, and exploitation of water.  Read publication...

Funders Respond to the Economic Crisis
February 18, 2009 - FNTG
In December funders came together with community organizers and economic, finance and policy experts in Washington to discuss the global financial crisis and to consider how the funding community could respond in meaningful ways. Basic consensus was reached through our discussions on some key points:

- The economic crisis is structural, globalized and linked to crises around climate, food security and ecological destruction among others. Policy solutions must reflect the systemic and global nature of the problems confronting us.

- Although these crises will not be resolved quickly, a relatively short window of opportunity exists to influence policy in the US, and internationally.

- Given pressures on grant portfolios, initiatives that are strategic, outcome-oriented, collaborative and bold will be more likely to attract funding than “business as usual” approaches which ignore changed economic and public policy contexts.

- Structural transformations must address the needs of those who have suffered most, and the voices of those with less access to institutional power need also to be heard within US and international policy debates.

- In spite of constraints, funders understand the importance of this moment, and many are eager that we not lose an historic opportunity to shift economic policy fundamentally towards more just and sustainable ends.

The attached 5 page report notes these and other key points to emerge from the December convening. The document also outlines an initial six-month Economic Crisis Response Initiative FNTG is organizing in collaboration with policy and grassroots groups, intended to help galvanize strategic and collective thinking among progressive forces in the US and abroad working to confront this crisis. This initiative will also serve to keep the funding community informed and engaged in a process of learning and reflection, and to promote support for relevant initiatives and strategies that emerge.  Read publication...

Mobilizing for National Health Care Reform - Presidential Candidates' Plans for Reform
October 22, 2008
"Mobilizing for National Health Care Reform" is now online as a podcast, with some additional documents. The forum "Mobilizing for National Health Care Reform," held on October 22 in San Francisco, compares the presidential candidates’ plans for national health care reform. Renowned public health and health care leaders examine how these plans address the concerns of: public health; women; low-income residents; and health care providers. The forum was presented by the Center for Policy Analysis, Californa Public Health Association-North, UCSF Center of Excellence in Women's Health, and Women LEAD for Health.  Read publication...

Funding Social Movements
April 1, 2003 - New World Foundation
The New World Foundation Perspective  Read publication...

Fair Labor Practices certification for cut flowers announced
March 14, 2007 - International Labor Rights Fund
The ILRF’s Fairness in Flowers Campaign has promoted the occupational health and safety and the labor rights of workers in the cut flower industries of Colombia and Ecuador since 2003. There are 40,000 flower workers in Ecuador and over 100,000 in Colombia, working to grow, harvest, and package the roses and carnations sold in US florist shops, supermarkets, and online retail sites. These workers routinely experience a number of labor rights violations.  Read publication...

FNTG Activities Report for 2006
March 13, 2007 - Mark Randazzo, FNTG
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Funder Delegation to the World Social Forum Participant Assessment Report
March 13, 2007 - FNTG
FNTG delegates assessment report based on results of post-trip online survey  Read publication...

WSF International Council Report
February 16, 2007 - WSF Secretariat, Brazil
Report on the World Social Forum IC Meeting held in Nairobi, January 26 and 27, 2007.  Read publication...

The Crisis of Multilateralism
September 14, 2006 - Walden Bello, Foreign Policy In Focus
Both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are in trouble. They are running out of money to lend. And, though both institutions are reaching out to civil society, representatives of nongovernmental organizations are banned from their fall meeting in Singapore.

The Fund is searching for a new role and a new governance structure. But proposals such as linking voting weight to GDP are mired in controversy. The Bank, meanwhile, is groaning under the weight of a huge bureaucracy. The crisis of these two institutions combine to make a crisis for multilateralism in general.  Read publication...

The Hijacking of the Development Debate - How Friedman and Sachs Got It Wrong
August 1, 2006 - Robin Broad and John Cavanagh, World Policy Journal
Just a half decade after protests by citizen groups in Latin America and elsewhere discredited two decades of market-oriented neoliberal dogma, Friedman and Sachs have narrowed the debate with simplistic slogans of “more aid” and “more trade.” They have done so by putting forward myths about the poor, economic development, and the global economy.  Read publication...

The Intercontinental Youth Camp 2001-2005: Linking Open Space Activism,
June 1, 2006 - Dan Morrison, Network Institute for Global Democratization
The Intercontinental Youth Camp is a creative effort to turn a space for temporary living into a social world of alternative practices challenging daily life under neoliberal globalisation; it is an expression of experimental social activism, the politics of collective self-management, and the celebration of spontaneous cultural expression. Dan Morrison previews his central thesis argumentation which ends on a critical note that the the IYC process has not lived up to its imaginaries; the full thesis will be posted on nigd website in July, 2006.  Read publication...

Brazil and the Difficult Path to Multilateralism
March 8, 2006 - Raul Zibechi, International Relations Center - America's Program
Brazil's rise as a regional and world power that champions multilateralism is being met with domestic and international obstacles. In addition to the resistance of the United States, Brazil has left a bitter taste in the mouth of its own neighbors who feel its steamroller-like advances are creating a new disequilibrium on the subcontinent. The domestic problems of Brazil - a country that has won "the world championship of inequality" - are spilling over as the country aspires to become a major player on the international scene. Raúl Zibechi, a member of the editorial board of the weekly Brecha de Montevideo, is a professor and researcher on social movements at the Multiversidad Franciscana de América Latina and adviser to several grassroots organizations. He is a monthly contributor to the IRC Americas Program (www.americaspolicy.org).  Read publication...

Global Civil Society 2005/6
November 28, 2005 - Marlies Glasius, Mary Kaldor, Helmut Anheier, Sage Publications
Global Civil Society 2005/6 tackles contentious and pertinent issues shaping the growing global consciousness of the 21st century: climate change, labour migration, gender and reform of the United Nations. In addition, this scholarly yet accessible annual publication analyses the infrastructure of global civil society – the extent of its connectedness, the use of new technology and the nature of the social forum phenomenon. A collaboration between the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Center for Civil Society at University of California Los Angeles, the Global Civil Society Yearbook is the standard work on the topic, indispensable for activists, social scientists, students, policy makers and journalists.  Read publication...

Economic Integration and Migration
June 1, 2004 - Tanya Dawkins, Oscar Chacon, Amy Shannon, Eduardo Moncada, Global-Local Links Project
The CAFTA and immigration policy debates are proceeding along separate tracks. In reality, the dominant model of trade policy is one of the primary drivers of internal and cross-border migration. The "silo" approach to these issues has been largely adopted by US public policy officials who generally do not focus on root causes and catalysts of migration, like economic, social or political instability. The Global-Local Links Project Issue Brief on Economic Integration raises fundamental questions about the impact of global trade rules and migration. Also available in Spanish.  Read publication...

World Social Forum Funder Delegation Report
March 1, 2005 - Mark Randazzo, Funders Network on Trade and Globalization
Excerpts from a report of FNTG's funder delegation to the WSF 2005.  Read publication...

Proxy Season Preview Spring 2005
April 20, 2005 - As You Sow Foundation
Helping Foundations Align Mission And Investment - This booklet is intended to make foundations more aware of important upcoming proxy votes and highlights social and environmental issues that are directly relevant to the missions of foundations.  Read publication...

Choike at the World Social Forum
February 8, 2005 - Choike: A Portal on Southern Civil Societies, a project of the Third World Institute
In this report Choike offers articles, discussions from previous regional forums, news, debates and background information on the World Social Forum 2005. Coverage was also provided during the development of this event.  Read publication...

FTAA: Health Hazard for the Americas?
November 16, 2003 - Ellen R. Shaffer, CPATH (Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health)
The Americas face critical threats to health, including crises in access to health care, water and other vital human services; re-emerging but preventable fatal diseases; the advance of AIDS; and biohazards. Imbalances in wealth and power undermine equity between and within nations. Addressing these crises is a high priority, and requires effective, cooperative international efforts. The draft Free Trade Area of the Americas is likely to worsen these problems, and to challnge countries’ domestic regulations, including those proven effective in advancing and protecting public health. This report presents issues and concerns related to the impact of the FTAA on democracy, public health and health care in the Americas. It reviews the arguments for and against liberalizing trade in health services, inequalities in health and wealth in the Americas, with a case study of Peru, and presents recommendations.  Read publication...

Call for Public Health Accountability in International Trade Agreements
November 16, 2003 - Joe Brenner, CPATH (Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health)
The Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA) threatens measures that protect health, provide access to medications, and assure the safety and affordability of vital human services, including health care, water, education and energy. Under the FTAA, vital human services are tradable commodities. The statement, signed by public health and health advocates, establishes the priority of health over commercial concerns, and calls for transparent and accountable fair trade negotiations that exclude vital human services.  Read publication...

A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All
February 24, 2004 - World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, International Labour Organization (ILO)
Globalization can and must change, says a new, groundbreaking report presented today to the International Labour Organization (ILO) urging that building a fair and inclusive globalization become a worldwide priority. This report, issued by the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, calls for an "urgent rethink" of current policies and institutions of global governance.  Read publication...

São Paulo Declaration
October 30, 2003 - Socialist International
At its recent Congress in São Paulo, Brazil, the Socialist International issued a final declaration under the heading 'The Return of Politics: For just and responsible global governance - For globalisation governed by the people'.  Read publication...

Water Justice for All
March 31, 2003 - Friends of the Earth International
Major new publication from Friends of the Earth International, in pdf format.  Read publication...

A Watershed in Global Governance?
November 1, 2001 - Navroz Dubash, Mairi Dupar, Smitu Kothari, Tundu Lissu, WRI/Lokayan/LEAT
Why and how did the World Commission on Dams (WCD) become an experiment in global governance? Controversial because of their social and environmental costs, dams are also symbols of larger concers of economic governance, democratic representation, and regulation over capital flows. A report by the World Resources Institute, Lokayan (India), and Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (Tanzania) takes an independent look at the WCD, and its legacy for larger questions of democratization at local and international levels.  Read publication...

Porto Alegre & Beyond: Following up on the World Social Forum
November 22, 2002 - Interhemispheric Resource Center
The growing profile of citizen-based agendas in global affairs represents one of the most promising developments in the international arena. This "Citizen Action in the Americas Discussion Paper" reports on an annual gathering that has become a prominent space for citizens' movements to meet and develop strategies for a more hopeful future: the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre.  Read publication...

The National Security Strategy of the United States of America
September 1, 2002 - U.S. Government
The National Security Strategy was issued by the White House in September.  Read publication...

Global Backlash: Citizen Initiatives for a Just World Economy
October 10, 2002 - Edited by Robin Broad, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Global Backlash is the first book to move beyond the monolithic portrayal of the globalization protests that have escalated since Seattle and are not likely to abate soon.  Read publication...

Living Economies
August 29, 2002 - YES! magazine
The fall issue of YES! magazine brings alive alternatives to what lead author David Korten calls the global suicide economy. This issue of YES! features stories on how communities from Brazil to Appalachia, from Argentina to Vermont are building living economies that value life and community.  Read publication...

African Civil Society Declaration on NEPAD
July 8, 2002
African civil society organizations declare their resistance to the "New Economic Partnership for Africa's Development" (Nepad), and push for demands that they think better address development, democracy, human rights and peace in Africa.  Read publication...

A Guide to the Enron Collapse
July 8, 2002 - Polaris Institute, Darren Puscas
This article provides an overall guide to understanding the Enron debacle, in a manner that broadens it from the standard, narrow financial or scandal-based story you can read in newspapers.  Read publication...

World Summit on Sustainable Development: Bali, Indonesia
July 8, 2002 - Antonio G. M. La Vina and Gretchen Hoff, World Resources Institute
This paper provides an update on the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), focusing on the outcomes of the Fourth Preparatory Committee (Prepcom IV) meeting recently held in Bali, Indonesia.  Read publication...

Update on Citizens’ Campaigns on the FTAA
July 3, 2002 - Karen Hansen-Kuhn, ART/DGAP
Representatives of the Hemispheric Social Alliance (HSA) and other social movements met recently in Quito, Ecuador for the purpose of exchanging information on their respective popular-education campaigns on the potential impacts of and alternatives to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). They also discussed the coordination of those campaigns at the hemispheric level and developed plans around a major civil-society forum to be held parallel to the official meeting of trade ministers on the FTAA in late October.  Read publication...

Social Movements and Regional Integration in the Americas
June 18, 2002 - Beverly Bell, Center for Economic Justice
This paper explores the status of cross-border social movements in the Americas in an era of globalization.  Read publication...

The Policy Roots of Economic Crisis and Poverty
May 21, 2002 - Structural Adjustment Participatory Review International Network (SAPRIN)
A multi-country participatory assessment based on the results of a joint World Bank/Civil Society/Government Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initaitive (SAPRI) and the Citizen's Assessment of Structural Adjustment (CASA)  Read publication...