Sometimes the best way to learn about campaigning is to review case studies of successful and unsuccessful campaigns. Campaigning, after all, is not a simple 1+1=2 activity. It’s complicated, and real life campaign case studies can do a decent job of revealing the complicated reality of social change.
- The Democracy Center in California has written a nice report profiling seven successful climate change campaigns.
- Campaigning for International Justice is a huge report written by Brendan Cox. The report analyses some of the strengths and weaknesses of some of the most high profile international campaigns ever. The guide is based on more than 300 interviews with politicians, civil society campaigners, civil servants, academics, celebrities, trade unionists and private sector leaders from around the world.
- Tjornbo, Westley, and Riddell’s wrote a case study on the Great Bear Rainforest campaign for the University of Waterloo.
- Swathmore College has developed a wonderfully great resource called the Non-Violent Action Database. The database holds case studies of campaigns that showcase different types of actions documented in Gene Sharp’s detailed non-violent action typography. The website lets you sort for case studies based on the type of tactics the campaign used, from public speeches to vigils to political mourning to student strike and so on.
Got a case study of your own? Send it to us at tools dot change at gmail dot com.