In the final section of this series, advocates respond to the question: What are the costs/benefits of single issue advocacy? Does the focus on a single issue crowd out the potential to focus on structural changes that would be required to deal with both the single issue and other related issues? The question arises from […]
Questions for the advocacy community: Q3 – Alex de Waal
May 28, 2009 by 1 Comment
What are the costs/benefits of single issue advocacy? Does the focus on a single issue crowd out the potential to focus on structural changes that would be required to deal with both the single issue and other related issues? Alex de Waal: The big question facing the landmines campaign was how to relate to the […]
Questions for the advocacy community: Q3 – John Norris
May 28, 2009 by 1 Comment
What are the costs/benefits of single issue advocacy? Does the focus on a single issue crowd out the potential to focus on structural changes that would be required to deal with both the single issue and other related issues? John Norris: Much has been made over the influence of single issue advocacy and its supposed […]
We need both – but the devil is in the detail
May 21, 2009 by 2 Comments
As this week’s posts have been articulating so well, advocates need both noise-making and policy-prescriptions in their toolkit – at varying degrees over different times and, I would add, depending on which kind of advocates we are talking about (grassroots vs. grasstops etc). Today Jill Savitt makes the important point that “the cost of having […]
Questions for the advocacy community: Q2 – Jill Savitt
May 21, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Q2: Is citizen advocacy at its most effective when it generates maximum “noise” on an issue , or do citizen advocates need to attach particular policy prescriptions to the noise they make? Jill Savitt: The answer is, of course, somewhere in between: In my experience, citizen advocacy is most effective when it generates maximum noise […]
Questions for the advocacy community: Q2 – Alex de Waal
May 21, 2009 by 1 Comment
Q2: Is citizen advocacy at its most effective when it generates maximum “noise” on an issue , or do citizen advocates need to attach particular policy prescriptions to the noise they make? Alex de Waal: The two cases in question suggest that it is not a question of either/or but of getting the right combination […]
In favor of policy prescriptions
May 20, 2009 by Leave a Comment
In today’s posts, Eric Reeves and Erin Mazursky both argue forcefully that “noise” is not enough. In contrast to Marc Gustafson’s post yesterday, which suggested that SDC advocates may have transitioned from noise-making to policy recommendations too quickly, Reeves argues that they didn’t move quickly enough. Mazursky adds to the mix a point that I […]
Questions for the advocacy community: Q2 – Eric Reeves
May 20, 2009 by 2 Comments
Q2: Is citizen advocacy at its most effective when it generates maximum “noise” on an issue , or do citizen advocates need to attach particular policy prescriptions to the noise they make? Eric Reeves: The value of advocacy “noise” per se varies as a crisis emerges; it is obviously most useful when there is simply […]
Questions for the advocacy community: Q2 – Erin Mazursky
May 20, 2009 by 4 Comments
Q2: Is citizen advocacy at its most effective when it generates maximum “noise” on an issue , or do citizen advocates need to attach particular policy prescriptions to the noise they make? Erin Mazursky: In April 2006, 75,000 people assembled on the Washington Mall calling for “peace in Darfur.” The message was simple, and perhaps […]
Questions for the advocacy community: Q3 – Eric Cohen
What are the costs/benefits of single issue advocacy? Does the focus on a single issue crowd out the potential to focus on structural changes that would be required to deal with both the single issue and other related issues? Some recent high-visibility discussions and critiques of the “save” Darfur movement focus on knowledge – Sudan […]