Saturday, July 15, 2006
Sensibility of Spirit
Coalitions--like other tools of community organizing--should be used when they help make you more effective. Same with non-profit corporate status, litigation, or lobbying.
As others have observed, though, it's the authenticity of the grievances and legitimacy of the protagonists that ground a group or network socially, and make it possible to offer genuine empathy and meaningful support to others.
Perhaps it's the political awareness engendered by an understanding of previous social movements that enables one to grasp the commonality in self-determination struggles across time and space. As such, solidarity is more a sensibility of spirit than it is a mechanical response based on the habitual opinions of reform.
As others have observed, though, it's the authenticity of the grievances and legitimacy of the protagonists that ground a group or network socially, and make it possible to offer genuine empathy and meaningful support to others.
Perhaps it's the political awareness engendered by an understanding of previous social movements that enables one to grasp the commonality in self-determination struggles across time and space. As such, solidarity is more a sensibility of spirit than it is a mechanical response based on the habitual opinions of reform.
