Event Report: Cultivating Innovation for Social Movement Leadership NGO Roundtable
1. Introduction
In the context of a shrinking civic space in many parts of Southeast Asia, Vietnam Rise held a roundtable discussion, as part of the Social Movement Festival (SMF) 2023, for international NGOs, activists and community-based organisations on “Sharing Innovative Leadership Approaches to Foster Grassroots Movements Across Southeast Asia.” From the discussions on leadership challenges and emerging organising models and tactics, the need for collaboration and resource sharing amongst movement actors emerged as the key theme. As all participants expressed their wish to further the discussion, this report captures insights from the event which will form the basis for follow-up activities.
The annual SMF provides a platform for learning and connecting to strengthen social movement building efforts in Vietnam and across Southeast Asia. This year’s SMF was hosted by Vietnam Rise with the support from Open Culture Foundation, Team CommUnity and The Vietnamese Association in Japan.
2. Context
For grassroots movements, the operating environment determines strategy planning, day-to-day organising as well as mobilisation models. The context of democratic backsliding, polarisation and an economic downturn presents similar challenges for activists and community-based organisations across the region. As with the rest of the world, we have also seen digital mobilisation becoming widespread, which puts civic activities under increased surveillance. Additionally, while the current organising practice of spontaneous and decentralised protests are harder to crack down, they are more disjointed and short-lived.
It is crucial for movement actors to identify leadership approaches that no longer work and quickly adapt to the changing time. In Asia, we have plenty to learn from the youth uprisings and new political momentum seen in Thailand and Malaysia, or the trans-local solidarity in the Milk Tea Alliance. Meanwhile, persistent and adaptive, the LGBT movement has been able to move public opinions in countries such as Taiwan, Myanmar and Vietnam. However, there have not been many opportunities for groups from different movements and geographies to come together for best practice sharing.
3. Current Leadership Practices in Social Movements
While each Roundtable participant’s perspective on their experience with social movements varied, when it came to current leadership practices observed, the majority felt that there was a lack of cohesion, particularly with the rise of informal leadership. It was also expressed that the more restrictive operating environment resulted in self censorship and people having to retreat from the frontline into the thinking space. Those in leadership positions could feel lonely as increased repression made it harder for them to come together.
With the power of digital mobilisation, the initiation of mass public action can come from anywhere in the digital space. Influencers can act as leaders for a short while. Spontaneity is effective in repressive environments as it is unpredictable and feeds on high energy of the mass. However, the impact from spontaneous campaigns tends to fizzle out quickly. As pointed out by a participant, the efficacy of shared leadership was limited by varying levels of capability and commitment. The landscape of the civic space was therefore perceived by the group as fragmented, with disjointed efforts even by those working for the same cause.
Following the group sharing of current leadership practices and the challenges they faced, participants went into breakout sessions to discuss how to 1) better engage people in the shared leadership model and 2) respond to specific challenges with innovative tactics and organising models.
4. What movement leadership practices are needed to empower people to step up to challenges in the current environment?
The need to see beyond differences and bridge gaps in understanding was seen as fundamental for groups to come together and build solidarity. The competition for resources and people’s support is common and needs to be turned on its head. Collaborations are to be cultivated for resource sharing and leaders of community-based organisations are to recognise where cross pollination would be effective and powerful. As in an example shared, the lack of resources and the realisation that each group could only do their part for a certain period of time made leaders of the LGBT movement in Taiwan accept that there had to be a “passing of the crown” to sustain the movement in the long run. They formed a platform for collaboration which resulted in the country being the first in Asia to have legalised same-sex marriage. It was brought up in the discussion that effective collaboration in a decentralised movement context would require effective communication, perhaps in the form of established intragroup and cross-group communication channels. Efforts to guide and empower the next generation of leaders by experienced movement actors were also identified as needed to help younger movements build on their momentum and move forward, possibly in the form of sub-groups in a larger network.
The importance of directly addressing challenges posed by the authority was not missed by the group. It was suggested that educating people about the role of government and how to hold them accountable would equip people with the knowledge to stand up for their rights. Appropriate spaces would then need to be created for voices from the affected communities to be heard. Leaders need to ensure the legality of their movements’ activities while also devising an effective strategy to counter misinformation campaigns used to discredit them. A participant from Vietnam suggested forming alliances across the support spectrum and involving as many stakeholders as possible in the leadership of a movement. This would help build strength both in numbers and in the ability of leadership to incorporate different perspectives.
“Social movements are evolving. It is important to continue learning and supporting one another such as building alliances and combining resources”
5. What are some innovative organising tactics and organising models to help grassroots organisations and movements be resilient and sustainable?
A number of participants highlighted the issue of demoralisation as a result of governments' demonisation of prominent figures in civil societies. Here the countering tactic put forward was to make a clear stance and gather support for the necessary legal actions that would likely be
time consuming and costly. More broadly, grassroots movements are hindered by potential risks. For example, selective repression and ambiguity about the redline lead to self-censorship and some leaders’ reluctance to decentralise. A suggested solution was to observe government reaction to geopolitical & social issues in a longer timeframe to understand their logic and monitor the space to keep up with their changing approaches. Other suggestions included security training and legal support to help curb fears in the community and expanding the concept of mobilisation beyond protests to include other activities that strengthen the civic space such as volunteerism. For example, a participant mentioned an open-source community in Taiwan where people exchanged information on technology and human rights.
The group also recognised that vulnerable communities faced additional challenges. For example, the precarious legal status of migrant workers make them reluctant to self organise or join unions. In response, activists help them use strategic ligation to gain the right to organise and have their labour rights protected.
“It is important for grassroots movements to be proactive, adaptable, and constantly evolving in order to increase their chances of success”
6. Open questions
It was evident in the plenary post the breakout session that the discussions raised many questions for leadership in fostering grassroots movements:
How might we turn potential competition between CSOs into an inclusive and collaborative ecosystem for coalition building and resource sharing?
How might we overcome legal restrictions, harassment and state propaganda against CSOs?
How do we involve relevant stakeholders in leadership and have clarity on their roles?
How do we improve communication across groups in a decentralised environment?
How might we create legal protection for vulnerable groups?
The answers would not come without the currently missing collaborative learning amongst all relevant stakeholders across movements and geographies.
7. Continued learning and sharing
The group expressed enthusiasm for further learning with two parallel approaches:
broad-based community building and resource sharing efforts such as an open (and safe) platform for the exchange of best practices, commissioned cross-movements learning and study tours
deepening personal connection in regular face-to-face gatherings and opportunistic small-group meet-ups at big events
When invited to share key takeaways, participants expressed their appreciation for the community space created with this roundtable, where they could connect with people who faced similar challenges and had discussions that concretise what was needed to strengthen grassroots movement. Some already looked forward to future events, particularly in-person gatherings.
Building on the enthusiasm for sustained efforts in community building and best practice sharing, Vietnam Rise will be discussing with its partners potential next steps to develop the collaborative learning space initiated with this event.
