Social Movements

Neither smart nor filled with answers, I humble myself here by thinking aloud about antiwar strategy. I also want to clearly state some of starting points. My first departure point may reduce my readership by half!  It is that masses of people—self-organizing networks and communities—mostly acting independently of the parties remain among the most decisive forces for ending and preventing wars. Yes, masses of people, not well-positioned elites, not savvy strategists, not self-sacrificing organizers, but ordinary folks reacting to their sense of what's right and wrong remain the bellwether.

Writing as someone who has helped organize events that featured Cindy Sheehan, I want to support her declaration concerning the Democratic Party’s relationship to the antiwar project. I also want to extend my sympathy to and express my solidarity with Cindy Sheehan and the tens of thousands of grassroots organizers who are the fabric of the antiwar movement. In reviewing the first wave of responses to the “Resignation Statement” (RS), I have come to ask more questions about the state of our movement.