From Alinsky to Zoom: Understanding Relational, Constituency-Based Organizing in 2021

Abstract

Research across political science, communications, sociology, and human-computer interaction has explored how modern social movements are leveraging technologies and digital tools to mobilize for social change. While mass mobilization has influenced policy, triggered revolutions, and influenced cultures globally, mobilization is just one method of collective action. In contrast, the more structured, relationship-focused practice of community organizing can also enable mass societal change, such as in the US Civil Rights movement and in the development of tech-giant labor unions. While there is exploration into how we might research and design tools informed by organizing, specific frameworks and practices of community organizing - such as the People, Power, Change framework - also must evolve in response to the ever changing landscape of technology in society. In this workshop, we will bring together community organizers, technologists, designers, and researchers to explore what it might mean to organize and center relationships in the modern era with (or without) computer support, in what contexts we should prioritize organizing rather than mobilizing, and how we might iterate upon our existing framework to respond to our findings. We will produce an iterated draft of a traditional organizing framework.