Unit 7: Tactics

A campaigner poses as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak outside of the Palace of Westminister, supporting the Make Polluters Pay Campaign.

This unit is your chance to select the tactics you are going to use and to make your final preparatory steps to take action.

Over the last few units you have worked on some of the key elements of laying the foundations for an effective campaign and influencing strategy to make change happen.

Your strategy must now include a clear plan of actions, or tactics, designed to achieve change informed by your understanding about the context, power, target audiences, appropriate narratives and messaging, and the space available for different kinds of influencing.

Learning from what you might have tried in the past, from what others have done, drawing on the knowledge of allies, using your imagination and trying different things, will all be key.

Small steps can lead to a bigger change so don’t worry about starting gradually, as long as you know where you are heading. Sometimes you might find that your action takes two steps forward and one step back. Do not be disheartened by this. Reflect on what happened, learn from it, and do things differently next time. Use your best judgement, which will steadily improve the more things you try, and talk to others. Rest assured you will never have all the answers; nor will anyone else.

Making change happen is very much a journey into the unknown, in which you feel your way. Being alert and responsive to shifts in the landscape and adapting accordingly is what makes an effective changemaker. You will also need to be clear on the risks you or others you are working with will be taking and think about how you will manage these risks.

Maximise

Show description|Hide description

The graphic depicts eight equal-sized circles. At the centre is circle one and the seven other circles orbit around this central circle. Arrows point between the central circle and the outer circles. In the central circle it says Unit 1 understanding ourselves and our own assumptions. The outer circles have the following text. Unit 2 understanding context and how change happens. Unit 3 systems and power. Unit 4 collective action, changemaker characteristics. Unit 5 influencing, power mapping, partners and allies. Unit 6 influencing strategies, messaging and stories. Unit 7 campaigning tactics, action plan, risks. Unit 8 reflection, adaption, overcoming challenges. The Unit 7 circle is coloured green and all the other circles are coloured blue. This emphasises that you are on Unit 7 of the course.

Oxfam and Greenpeace ambassadors, campaigners and volunteers take part in the climate march procession at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival.

Show description|Hide description

An aerial view image looking down on Oxfam and Greenpeace ambassadors. They all wear green coloured t-shirts and hold flags.

Oxfam and Greenpeace ambassadors, campaigners and volunteers take part in the climate march procession at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival.

First, in order to understand how a campaign can use a range of different tactics to achieve its aims it is useful to look in detail at an example. In the next activity, you will do just that.

Activity 7.1: Analysing campaign strategy and tactics

Timing: Allow 20 minutes

Writing out a poster with instructions for tweeting at an MDG Summit Activism event at Lincoln Center in New York, September 2010.

Show description|Hide description

A woman writes on a poster on the floor in thick felt tip pen. The poster says "Using Twitter?" Then, inside a speech bubble are the words "Tweet + use these hash tags: #worldiwant and/or #MDGsummit.

Writing out a poster with instructions for tweeting at an MDG Summit Activism event at Lincoln Center in New York, September 2010.

Read this overview of ‘I care about her’, a campaign working with men and boys to end violence against women and girls, run through a partnership of several organisations including Oxfam in Zambia:

As you read the case study, please reflect on these questions:

• What were the objectives of the campaign?
• What different dimensions of power do you see in this case study?
• Who did the campaign work with and why?
• Who was the campaign trying to influence?
• What tactics did the campaign employ? Which were successful and which were not?

Add your views on what you think the campaign should do next to the free text box, in the Make Change Happen Plan or in your own notebook.

To use this interactive functionality a free OU account is required. Sign in or register.

Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).

Tactics are the specific actions you intend to pursue to help you achieve your objectives. There are a huge range of possible tactics to use to make change happen. The possibilities are as broad as your imagination. Your context and power analysis will help guide you, but central will be your power mapping and the decisions you have made as to who your key targets are and what specifically you need to influence them to do. You will need to choose an appropriate mix and sequencing of your tactics and activities keeping these targets in mind. The more specific and targeted the aims of your chosen tactics are, the easier it will be monitor progress, to make adjustments and ultimately the more effective you will be in moving towards your change goal.

We have seen just a few possible tactics through the case studies and discussions in this course so far, such as the media adverts, billboards, radio broadcasts, marches, trainings, education cards, discussion groups, police and school engagement used by the ‘I care about her’ campaign in Zambia.

A key question to ask yourself when choosing tactics is what will help make real change happen among the specific people and institutions you are influencing?

Think about whether you want to encourage or persuade by engaging directly with decision-makers and influencers in their spaces through what we call insider tactics, and which are generally less confrontational. Or do you need to put pressure on them through public mobilisation and what we call outsider tactics, which are generally seen as more confrontational? Often a mix of these two approaches works best but tensions might also arise as a result of using both, something you will need to manage.

For instance, if you are aiming to change the policies and practices of governments or other institutions or businesses you could consider the following.

Insider (persuasion) tactics:

• Research and evidence to highlight what needs to change and why.
• Focus on engaging directly with policy and decision-makers by developing relationships, convening meetings, establishing dialogue, letter writing and lobbying, also known as advocacy.
• Package up your ideas and solutions and be ready to present them when there are windows of opportunity, for example, a new sympathetic government or a swing in public mood in favour of your issue.
• Recruit influential and credible voices who can access and influence decision-makers directly.
• Create your own spaces and platforms for change and invite relevant people in to help influence the agenda.

Outsider (pressure) tactics:

• Build alliances and coalitions for change to engage and put pressure on decision-makers – for example with celebrities, community and religious leaders, or other people seen to be credible spokespeople on the issue.
• Mobilise your community and the public to demonstrate concern on the issue and support for the change – through demonstrations, protest and media stunts, online petitions and digital and social media activities.
• High profile media to hold targets to account and even to expose bad practices.
• Raise awareness via social media, engaging influencers who have large followings and are prepared to take up the issue.

If you have an objective to strengthen the voice or power of people who are affected by or concerned about the issue, you could consider using the following tactics:

• Awareness raising activities within your community.
• Bring people together to act and learn and be involved in securing the change.
• Build a wider movement for change through events, meetings and social media activities.
• Build leadership and campaigning skills within your group.
• Fundraising and technical advice

If you have an objective to change social norms and behaviours that are helping to perpetuate an injustice you could consider the following:

• Develop communication messages, ideally delivered through popular messengers, influencers and role-models, that emphasise positive norms and behaviours that also challenge the ‘bad’ social norms or behaviours.
• Awareness raising activities within communities affected.
• Empowerment and social-learning activities with those people negatively affected.
• Activities that influence or put pressure on government, public services, the media, businesses, or the justice system to change policies and practices that shape norms and behaviours or contribute to maintaining negative social norms.

If you have an objective to pioneer or promote new solutions to tackle a particular injustice, and to help spread the change through influencing and campaigning, you could consider using a mix of the following:

• Pioneer the initiative locally, test it and then, if successful, scale it up.
• Create networks and communities of practice to share learning on and promote new approaches to solving the problem you want to address.
• Influence other groups, institutions, service providers or government departments to adopt and promote the new practices or behaviours.
• Create spaces for open discussions and brainstorming of ideas around solutions.

Many other tactics can be employed too, dependent on the context, the audience, the message, and what you’re trying to achieve and with what resources. A list first published in 1973 by the American political scientist Gene Sharp, shows 198 methods of ‘nonviolent action’, and it was compiled even before the dawn of digital and social media. A PDF version of this list is available in the downloads area below.

Although focused on methods of nonviolent action, this publication also highlights a range of confrontational tactics that can be used to achieve change. This also begs the question whether violent action can ever be justified when seeking to achieve positive change on social and environmental justice issues, recognising that there is a distinction between violence against people and causing damage to property or disruption to events or livelihoods.

Whichever tactics you think could be effective in achieving your objectives, careful consideration of how to manage risks is important, and something we’ll come back to later in this unit. If you need to, how easy will it be to switch tactics when something is not working, when tensions become unmanageable or when a new opportunity appears? Finally, do you have access to the resources and time needed for the kind of tactics you think could work?

There are many resources available on the internet which provide guidance and inspiration on possible influencing tactics and we link to some of them in the further reading sections of this course.

In this video Hadeel, Eric, Elena, Art, and Kelly share their experience in selecting the strategies and tactics they use.

Neha also shares her thoughts on risk in changemaking.

Download this video clip.Video player: mch_unit7_7.3.mp4

Show transcript|Hide transcript

Transcript

HADEEL QAZZAZ:

Sometimes you have to act quickly, for example, to immediately have a position paper, or a reaction, or go outside in a demonstration. In other cases, you have to do more research and analysis, to understand where the root causes of the problem are. We need to influence decision makers or influential people could be convincing, could be confronting, could be pressuring depends on the situation.

ERIC NJUGUNA:

As a climate activist, I have, for instance, chosen protest as a way to make change happen because it brings people together and threatens the status quo.

ELENA MEIJIA:

For me, many different ways of expressions of the arts are very important for two main reasons. One is this internal liberation process. This learning art processes, or enjoying art processes with critical art, is very helpful to have this internal questioning and external questioning of the world and of ourselves. So for me, that’s one benefit of the arts and cultures as tactics. The other one is, how do we express our messages? How do we get our messages to people that we think need to hear them, need to experience them? More of a communication side of culture and arts.

ART REYES III:

First and foremost, our job is to be building the relationships and leadership of the people that we are organising. Ultimately, part of our job is to help people begin to see themselves not as a victim that things happen to, that we need magical activists or organisers to swoop in and shift things, or change things, or fight on their behalf. But rather, that we have the ability to come together with others to express our agency, to express collective agency, and to say it’s possible to change things.

So for us, in the most basic way, we stay connected to our people because those are the folks that we’re in conversation with, that we’re meeting with, that we’re talking to, that we’re doing one-to-ones, and house meetings, and trainings, and building strategy with, every day.

ERIC NJUGUNA:

I also find it really important and to listen to the most affected by the issue I’m working on, and creating a strategy that will directly influence the communities most affected for the better.

KELLY MUNDY:

There’s some core ingredients that we can use within our campaigns. But it really does depend on the context, the time, and who it is that you’re targeting. The flexibility that you might need to change direction, as and when something happens, and also do some scenario planning. So if A happens, we’ll take this route. If B happens, we can take another route.

ERIC NJUGUNA:

There are many factors that contribute to the maintenance of the status quo and systems mapping helps me to identify who is important to influence, and which pressure points exist, and find a tactic that is most impactful.

KELLY MUNDY:

We’ll think about who our audiences are and how we meet audiences where they’re at, to take them on a journey with us. We’ll think about the different campaign and actions. Are there any influential voices that we can bring on board with those? What our advocacy means how can we work one-to-one with decision makers, in order to achieve the change we want to see. A good campaign is a diverse, creative campaign that takes people with you and that might look a bit different every time.

NEHA SINGH:

Do not think of risk as a bad word. We are supposed to take risks for everything. We take risks in our relationships. We take risks in our careers. We take risks when we are climbing mountains. So risk is a very good thing. The strength of knowing that what we are doing is right this internalisation of you did something wrong, that’s why this happened to you the victim blaming to embrace risk in that way, that wherever there is risk, there are going to be greater things in store.

End transcript

Download

 

Senior Innovation Officer in Public Health Promotion and Community Engagement, Iffat Tahmid Fatema talks about community consultation tools for WASH infrastructure in Kutapalong Balukali camp in Bangladesh.

Show description|Hide description

Iffat Tahmid Fatema writes with felt tip on a flip chart.

Senior Innovation Officer in Public Health Promotion and Community Engagement, Iffat Tahmid Fatema talks about community consultation ...

It is important to identify what assumptions you are making about how to achieve change and why you think the tactic or activity you are choosing will work.

An assumption is something that you believe to be true without evidence or proof. As a changemaker you will decide what the best tactics that will likely lead to a change are. However, your assumptions will be heavily influenced by your own beliefs, attitudes, life experiences, sense of agency, power, privilege and your prejudices about how you think change could happen. It is helpful to identify clearly what assumptions you have about a change process and test them out as you go.

For instance, an assumption that providing good evidence and research to back up your arguments for change will persuade a particular audience to take action might not necessarily be true. Why might this be the case? It might be that their values or ideological positioning is at odds with the change you are proposing so no amount of evidence will persuade them otherwise. Or that there are powerful vested interests lobbying the decision maker to block the change.

You might believe that raising the public’s awareness of an issue will lead to the public putting more pressure on politicians and policy-makers to act. This might or might not be true in any particular context.

Or you might think that providing people with information about the harms caused by certain behaviours will stop them doing them. But the behaviours may be influenced by a range of other factors other than awareness or information. For example, people won’t necessarily stop smoking just because they know of the severe risks.

So, when you are deciding on which tactics and activities you will use it is good practice to identify your assumptions and test them as you undertake your change activities so you can check if they are working. If not, you’ll need to review and consider alternative approaches.

It’s all about being reflective, responsive and agile, i.e., ‘dancing with the system’.

Skaters carrying printed infographics at the caravan climate change walk on October 13, 2022 in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria.

Show description|Hide description

Two protesters wearing skate gear and roller blades hold up a large sign which says ‘Because we blocked drainages… water runs the wrong way.’

Skaters carrying printed infographics at the caravan climate change walk on October 13, 2022 in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria.

Now it’s time to decide the tactics you will use to influence your target audiences.

To help get your thinking, we have taken two of the objectives from the Zambia ‘I care about her’ example we shared earlier and have identified the tactics chosen and the assumptions made.

You can use the tool by downloading the Word version below the image.

Maximise

Show description|Hide description

The tool is in the form of a table which has six column headers and in the row below this model examples are given. The remaining rows below this are blank for the learner to complete with their examples. The first column header says your change objective and the tactics you might employ. And in the row below the model example says transform attitudes and beliefs that perpetuate violence against women and girls. The second column header says who are the key stakeholders affected? And in the row below the model example says women and girls in communities and men in communities and the police and government. The third column header says what risks are there? And in the row below the model example says backlash against women in communities supporting the campaign and further violence and they are ostracised for engaging in campaign or lose their jobs. The fourth column header says what action might you need to take to reduce any negative impacts you might face? And in the row below the model example says research and interviews to assess potential impacts before deciding on tactics and pilot activities in one area before rolling out wider and ensure employers or community leaders are supportive of men getting involved in the campaign. The fifth column header says what is the likelihood of the risk happening? High, Medium or Low. And in the row below the model example says low to medium. The sixth column header says what would the impact be if it did happen? High, Medium or Low. And in the row below the model example says high

Downloadable Word tool

Women taking part in training sessions and workshops on fighting Gender Based Violence in Beirut, Lebanon.

Show description|Hide description

A group of women look at several pieces of paper pinned to a wall.

Women taking part in training sessions and workshops on fighting Gender Based Violence in Beirut, Lebanon.

Being a changemaker and advocating for social, policy or practice change is inherently risky. If you are not prepared to take calculated risks, in certain situations, you are less likely to achieve your change. You may need to challenge the status quo or people and institutions who have power and influence. You may be exposing previously hidden conflicts or neglected issues or groups. There could be unintended consequences or even danger for yourself or others. If your group or community is marginalised or vulnerable to people, institutions or authorities who exercise power in a negative and harmful way, then you must take great care to consider and then mitigate any potential harm that might arise as the result of your actions.

Examples of risks you might face as a changemaker are as follows:

• Risks to your own security or to the safety of your supporters or community from speaking out, such as being arrested or faced with violence, including risks from authorities and risks within the household (such as gender-based violence).
• Hostile reactions from the community or from a particular section of society. For instance, when you are challenging social norms.
• Hostile reactions from the media.
• Damage to assets and property.
• Unprotected personal data for you and your allies saved on your phone or computer is accessed by hackers.
• Upsetting officials and politicians who might not want to engage with you.
• Legal action from someone you might have defamed.
• Damage to your reputation and the relationship you have with your supporters and allies.
• Increased scrutiny of your organisation’s finances.
• Online harassment through social media.
• Active oppression by agents of states, companies or institutions whose positions you are aiming to change.

It’s important to recognise that there is both a negative and a positive side to taking risks. Change inevitably holds risk and some well managed risk can lead to reward. Taking risks is about the courage to choose a course of action that could succeed or fail. It’s also about understanding the risks clearly, and being able to identify ways to minimise them while being able to maintain your goals for change. It’s about dealing with uncertainty about the results of a particular action or tactic you might use to make a change and taking appropriate mitigating action.

Activity 7.3: Preparing to mitigate risks

Timing: Allow 30 minutes

Rosalia Teresa Pereira, a member of Open The Books group and Association for the Disabled of Timor-Leste, work focused on building capacity and confidence of the Timor-Leste disability movement to influence government projects and policies. Funded with support of the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).

Show description|Hide description

A photograph of Rosalia Teresa Pereira sitting in her wheel chair

Rosalia Teresa Pereira, a member of Open The Books group and Association for the Disabled of Timor-Leste, work focused on building ...

You will find a table in the downloads below where you can identify the risks you might face for your three change objectives and the tactics you are considering as part of your action plan.

It will help you make a judgement about what risks are realistic, what risks you are prepared to take to achieve each of your objectives and how you can minimise any adverse impacts. Risk mitigation is about identifying the risks that are most likely and potentially of highest impact and focusing on those.

It may be that some risks are smaller than others and relatively easy to mitigate. For example, they may mean small adjustments to your current ways of working, like using an online password generator, installing a paper shredder next to your recycling bin, changing your route or regular meeting place. Others may take more planning and consideration. The goal is to create sufficient safety or protection to continue to do the things you want to do – rather than change your approach altogether.

To help get you thinking we have taken one of the objectives from the Zambia example we shared and identified potential risks.

You will find a copy of this table in the Make Change Happen Plan and in the downloads area below. Alternatively, you can use the free text box or your own notebook to note down the risks.

To use this interactive functionality a free OU account is required. Sign in or register.

Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).

People protesting the dire circumstances after Moria camp, Europe's largest refugee camp on the island of Lesbos in Greece burned down in 2020.

Show description|Hide description

Protesters holding signs which say "Freedom", "Where is human rights?" and "We are human."

People protesting the dire circumstances after Moria camp, Europe's largest refugee camp on the island of Lesbos in Greece burned down in...

No matter how much you prepare yourself and think through all possible risks and consequences of your actions, it's likely that things will unfold quite differently in reality. In order to be ready for this, it's important to consider how you will go about monitoring your actions. This means thinking about what signs will tell you that plans might need to be changed. Beyond your own observations and reflections, a good way to be adaptive in this way is to seek feedback from others who are involved in some way with your change action, directly or indirectly.

Mariom, Rumi, Shirin and Shabnur working in their house yard. After training with Green Jobs, they make lunch carrier bags, ladies bags, handcrafts, wall-mates and penholders among other things. This project is supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Australian NGO cooperation Program (ANCP).

Show description|Hide description

The four women sit on the ground in the yard. They concentrate while they work with yarn.

Mariom, Rumi, Shirin and Shabnur working in their house yard. After training with Green Jobs, they make lunch carrier bags, ladies bags, ...

Now is the time to take your next steps in the change journey and implement one or more of those activities.

Choose something that you can do over the next week. For example, you could do one of the following:

• Have a conversation with somebody about your plan or the next steps you are considering.
• Look online for suitable local groups or national organisations that are campaigning or active on the issues you would like to make change happen on and join their campaign.
• Contact people who could be or are already involved in the change activity and set up a meeting to start planning a series of activities to take your plan forward.
• Advertise to see whether others might be interested in setting up a local activist group on your issue – in your local community, community of interest or identity; in your college, school or workplace, etc.
• If you are already active on an issue with other changemakers, organise a meeting to share your learning and develop new ideas to take your campaign forward.

Shiro Olawale addresses the community head and members on the importance of climate caravan activities in Lagos State, Nigeria, October 2022.

Show description|Hide description

Shiro Olawale stands in a room full of people. He holds up a sign, showing it to them. On the back of his t-shirt, it says "Act now, act together".

Shiro Olawale addresses the community head and members on the importance of climate caravan activities in Lagos State, Nigeria, October ...

In this unit we have looked at the tactics you can use to help achieve the change you want to see and the personal steps you can take to prepare yourself for action. We hope you have been inspired by the stories of others and the steps they are taking.

You have thought about the assumptions you are making about the activities and tactics you will use and how to identify and deal with potential risks. Also, you began to put a plan to achieve change in place. It is an important first step.

So, as you move forward you may need some words of encouragement from the great Nelson Mandela:

and

Further reading

• Beautiful Rising

• Act Build Change

• Mob Lab

• Activist Handbook

• Take Back the Tech

• Surveillance Self-Defence: Tips, Tools and How-Tos for Safer Online Communications

• Preparing for Online Harassment

• AWID Rights at Risk Resource Library

• Just Associates Making Change Happen

In Unit 7 of this course, the topics have been – taking action to make change happen, strategy and tactics, developing your action plan, understanding and mitigating risk, and the steps to implement your plan.

Now test your knowledge on what you have learned with this short quiz.

Albert Einstein Institution (n.d.)198 Methods of Nonviolent Action, [Online]. Available at: https://www.aeinstein.org/ 198-methods-of-nonviolent-action (Accessed 18 October 2023).

Mayne, R. (2019) ‘Influencing Behaviours and Practices to Tackle Poverty and Injustice’, Views & Voices, 17 January [Online]. Available at: https://views-voices.oxfam.org.uk/ general/ influencing/ 2018/ 01/ influencing-behaviours-practices-tackle-poverty-injustice (Accessed 15 August 2023).

Oxfam Policy & Practice (2015) I Care about Her: building a movement of champions in Zambia to end violence [Online]. Available at: https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/ resources/ i-care-about-her-building-a-movement-of-champions-in-zambia-to-end-violence-aga-345992/ (Accessed 15 August 2023).

Sharp, G. (1973) The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers.

Tsui, J., Hearn, S. and Young, J. (2014) Monitoring and evaluation of policy influence and advocacy, ODI Working Paper 395, Overseas Development Institute. Available online: https://odi.org/ en/ publications/ monitoring-and-evaluation-of-policy-influence-and-advocacy/ (Accessed 16 February 2024).