Speaker 1: Cal Zone Media book Club book Club book Club, Hello
Speaker 1: and welcome nicols On Media. Book Club, the only book
Speaker 1: club where you don't have to do the mutual aid
Speaker 1: organizing because I do it. No, No, that's not our
Speaker 1: tack line. If you want to do some mutual aid organizing,
Speaker 1: then the book we are reading this week and last
Speaker 1: week is a good place to start. Dean spades book
Speaker 1: Mutual Aid. This book that we're reading excerpts from last
Speaker 1: week and this week, but you should go out and
Speaker 1: read the whole book. This book, Mutual Aid will teach
Speaker 1: you a lot of the most basic skills that you
Speaker 1: need for this work. It tends to be more forward
Speaker 1: facing and easy to get involved with mutual aid, and
Speaker 1: it's a great way to get connected to other folks
Speaker 1: doing good work around the scene. If you're shy or
Speaker 1: not a people person, that's fine, there's a role for
Speaker 1: you too. Plus, socializing is a muscle and it is
Speaker 1: a thing that you can exercise and practice and get
Speaker 1: better at, and so mutual Aid is a really good
Speaker 1: way to do that. Anyway, Welcome to book Club, the
Speaker 1: only book club where you don't have to read all
Speaker 1: of Dean Spade's amazing book about how to do mutual
Speaker 1: aid work because I'm going to read parts of it
Speaker 1: to you and says this is part two. We're going
Speaker 1: to be covering the second half of the book today.
Speaker 1: Last week, Dean Spade, the author of the book, has
Speaker 1: talked to us about some different definitions of mutual aid
Speaker 1: and established some important traits of mutual aid. To recap that, one,
Speaker 1: mutual aid projects work to meet survival needs and build
Speaker 1: shared understanding about why people do not have what they need. Two,
Speaker 1: mutual aid projects mobilize people, expand solidarity, and build movements.
Speaker 1: And three mutual aid projects are participatory, solving problems through
Speaker 1: collective action rather than waiting for saviors. Dean talks about
Speaker 1: the slogan solidarity not charity, and how mutual aid is
Speaker 1: different than philanthropy, going through some pitfalls of the charity
Speaker 1: model of aid. Dean also writes about how the state
Speaker 1: won't save us and how we'll need to be brave
Speaker 1: enough to rely on each other if we want to
Speaker 1: make it through the many crises at hand. But that
Speaker 1: was last week, and you can go back and listen
Speaker 1: to it all again if you want a more thorough recap,
Speaker 1: or you can go back if you never listened to
Speaker 1: it in the first place, although you should, but you
Speaker 1: know you do you. These are excerpts from Part two
Speaker 1: of mutual Aid, Building Solidarity in This Crisis and the
Speaker 1: Next by Dean Spade, Chapter four, Some Dangers and Pitfalls
Speaker 1: of mutual aid. Mutual aid groups face four dangerous tendencies,
Speaker 1: dividing people to those who are deserving and undeserving of help,
Speaker 1: practicing saviorism, being co opted, and collaborating with efforts to
Speaker 1: eliminate public infrastructure and replace it with private enterprise and volunteerism.
Speaker 1: Deserving this hierarchies. When mutual aid projects make more stigmatized
Speaker 1: people ineligible for what they are offering, they replicate the
Speaker 1: charity model. The charity model often ties aid and criminalization together,
Speaker 1: determining who gets help and who gets put away saviorism
Speaker 1: and paternalism. The idea that those giving aid need to
Speaker 1: fix people who are in need is based on the
Speaker 1: notion that people's poverty and marginalization is not a systemic problem,
Speaker 1: but is caused by their own personal shortcomings. This also
Speaker 1: implies that those who provide aid are superior. Most mutual
Speaker 1: aid projects benefit from an explicit, ongoing effort to build
Speaker 1: shared analysis among participants about the harms of saviorism and
Speaker 1: the necessity of self determination for people in crisis co optation.
Speaker 1: Politicians and CEOs who fantasize about a world where nothing
Speaker 1: is guaranteed and most people are desperate and easily exploited
Speaker 1: love the idea of volunteerism replacing a social safety net.
Speaker 1: If we don't design mutual aid projects with care, we
Speaker 1: can fit right into this conservative dream, becoming the people
Speaker 1: who can barely hold the threats of a survivable world
Speaker 1: together while the one percent extracts more and more while
Speaker 1: heroizing individual volunteers. Wisdom from the feminist movement against domestic
Speaker 1: violence can guide us in building successful groups and movements
Speaker 1: and in resisting co optation. Characteristics of mutual aid versus charity.
Speaker 1: Most mutual aid projects are volunteer based and avoid the careerism,
Speaker 1: business approach and charity model of nonprofits. Mutual aid projects
Speaker 1: strive to include lots of people rather than just a
Speaker 1: few people who have been declared experts or professionals. If
Speaker 1: we want to provide survival support to as many people
Speaker 1: as possible and mobilize as many people as possible for
Speaker 1: root causes change, We need to let a lot of
Speaker 1: people do the work and make decisions about the work together,
Speaker 1: rather than bottlenecking the process with hierarchies that let only
Speaker 1: a few people lead. Despite these important goals, avoiding the
Speaker 1: pitfalls of co optation, deserving as hierarchies, saviorism, and disconnect
Speaker 1: from root causes work requires constant vigilance. Here are some
Speaker 1: guiding questions for mutual aid groups trying to avoid these
Speaker 1: dangers and pitfalls. Who controls our project? Who makes decisions
Speaker 1: about what we do? Does any of the funding we
Speaker 1: receive come with strings attached that limit who we can
Speaker 1: help or how we help? Do any of our guidelines
Speaker 1: about who can participate in our work cut out stigmatized
Speaker 1: and vulnerable people. What is our relationship to law enforcement?
Speaker 1: How do we introduce new people in our group? To
Speaker 1: our approach to law enforcement? Chapter five? No masters, no flakes.
Speaker 1: Groups are more effective and efficient when participants know how
Speaker 1: to raise concerns, how to propose ideas, and when a
Speaker 1: decision has been made and by whom, and how to
Speaker 1: put that decision into practice. People who have gotten to
Speaker 1: participate in decision making and feel co ownership of the
Speaker 1: project stick around and do the work. People who feel
Speaker 1: unclear about whether their opinion matters or how to be
Speaker 1: part of making decisions tend to drift away. Strong structures
Speaker 1: also help us plug in new people, orient them to
Speaker 1: the work, train them in skills they need to build,
Speaker 1: and give them roles they want. And do you know
Speaker 1: what clear structure is our responsibility? That's right, it's ads.
Speaker 1: It's clearly our responsibility to show you ads. You don't
Speaker 1: have to listen to them, and we're back. This chapter
Speaker 1: will explore three organizational tendencies that often emerge in mutual
Speaker 1: aid groups that can cause problems and provide ideas for
Speaker 1: how to avoid them. Secrecy, hierarchy, and lack of clarity.
Speaker 1: Many groups that fail to create clear decision making methods
Speaker 1: and carrying emancipatory cultures end up with participants not knowing
Speaker 1: what is going on or who is making decisions, having
Speaker 1: all the decision making concentrate in one person or click,
Speaker 1: and risk the group being torn apart by conflict. Because
Speaker 1: of these dynamics two, over promising and under delivering, non
Speaker 1: responsiveness and elitism, many groups bite off more than they
Speaker 1: can chew, promising to help more people than they can help,
Speaker 1: or making it seem like they have a community need
Speaker 1: covered when they don't actually have the capacity to address it.
Speaker 1: This problem seems to be exacerbated when groups receive grants
Speaker 1: for specific projects so there is money at stake and
Speaker 1: falsely claiming to be able to accomplish more than they
Speaker 1: are able. It also happens when people are not making
Speaker 1: decisions together and someone makes promises for the whole group
Speaker 1: without consulting everyone else about whether that work is a
Speaker 1: priority or a possibility. This tendency can include being non responsive,
Speaker 1: especially to community members in need, and sometimes being over
Speaker 1: responsive to elites. Many groups, especially when money or ego
Speaker 1: is involved, answer calls from media or elected officials, but
Speaker 1: not from the community members that they are supposed to serve.
Speaker 1: Three Scarcity, urgency, and competition. Some groups also develop a
Speaker 1: culture of scarcity of money, time, attention, and labor, which
Speaker 1: makes sense giving the real scarcity that exists in many
Speaker 1: of our lives under capitalism. However, when we do our
Speaker 1: work from a feeling that there is not enough money, time,
Speaker 1: or attention to go around, we sometimes get competitive with
Speaker 1: other groups or with other people within our group, or
Speaker 1: we feel so much urgency about particular tasks that we
Speaker 1: don't take the necessary steps to do our task well,
Speaker 1: and we forget about being kind to each other in
Speaker 1: our rush to get something done. This can lead to
Speaker 1: conflict or making mistakes that harm our communities. This section
Speaker 1: will provide tools for addressing these tendencies in our groups
Speaker 1: and in ourselves, so that we can cultivate transparency, integrity,
Speaker 1: and generosity in our work and build our capacities to
Speaker 1: avoid the pitfalls discussed in chapter four. We will look
Speaker 1: at what decision making in leadership look like when these
Speaker 1: tendencies prevail, what alternatives to these ways of working look like,
Speaker 1: and what personal qualities and behaviors we need to cultivate
Speaker 1: to address these tendencies. Group culture groups have cultures. Group
Speaker 1: culture is built from the signals we give people when
Speaker 1: they join or attend an event norms the group follows,
Speaker 1: how we celebrate together, how we engage in small talk,
Speaker 1: what our meetings feel like, how we give feedback to
Speaker 1: each other, and more. There is no one correct or
Speaker 1: perfect group culture. Groups should be different from each other
Speaker 1: because the people in them are different and we all
Speaker 1: bring different quality, skills and viewpoints. Ideally, we want a
Speaker 1: group culture that supports participants in doing the work they
Speaker 1: came together to do, to be well and to build
Speaker 1: generative relationships. We want to be flexible, and we also
Speaker 1: want to have a culture of responsiveness, reliability, and punctuality.
Speaker 1: How do we work to cultivate both? Most of us,
Speaker 1: having received our concept of responsibility from dominant culture, associate
Speaker 1: it with being forced, lured, or shamed into being good,
Speaker 1: ignoring our needs and fearing punishment if we do wrong.
Speaker 1: How do we hold our values of flexibility, compassion and
Speaker 1: justice while building a culture where we show up and
Speaker 1: do what we said we would. These tensions are real.
Speaker 1: If we do not talk about them together, we run
Speaker 1: the risk of falling into automatic behaviors, driving out new
Speaker 1: people and falling apart. Creating a group culture intentionally and
Speaker 1: having a shared vis about how we want it to
Speaker 1: be does not mean we all need to be just
Speaker 1: like each other. We can acknowledge differences in our capacities, talents, desires,
Speaker 1: and difficulties and still aim to create a culture where
Speaker 1: we support each other in the work, learn new skills,
Speaker 1: and are connected and kind to each other. The goal
Speaker 1: is not that everyone be similar, but that we all
Speaker 1: complement each other and build some shared practices based in
Speaker 1: shared values. MADR Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. Madr's slogan mutually
Speaker 1: a disaster relief slogan is no masters, no flakes, and
Speaker 1: it is a great summary of key principles for collective
Speaker 1: mutual aid work. This dual focus on rejecting hierarchies inside
Speaker 1: the organization and committing to build accountability according to shared
Speaker 1: values asks participants to keep showing up and working together,
Speaker 1: not because a boss is making you, but because you
Speaker 1: want to making decisions together. Perhaps the most central group
Speaker 1: activity that makes everything else possible is making decisions. When
Speaker 1: we do it well, we make good decisions on the
Speaker 1: basis of the best information available, We feel heard by
Speaker 1: each other, and we are all motivated to implement what
Speaker 1: we decided. When we do it poorly, our decisions are unwise.
Speaker 1: Some people are left resentful or hurt or disconnected from
Speaker 1: the group, and there is less motivation to proceed together
Speaker 1: on purpose. It's important to remember that no decision making
Speaker 1: structure can prevent all conflict or power dynamics, or guarantee
Speaker 1: that we will never be frustrated or bored or decide
Speaker 1: to part ways. But consensus decision making at least helps
Speaker 1: us avoid the worst costs of hierarchy as a majority rule,
Speaker 1: which can include abuse of power, demobilization of most people,
Speaker 1: and inefficiency. Consensus decision making gives us the best chance
Speaker 1: to hear from everyone concerned, address power dynamics, and make
Speaker 1: decisions that represent the best wisdom of the group and
Speaker 1: that people in the group will want to implement. What
Speaker 1: is consensus decision making. Consensus decision making is based on
Speaker 1: the idea that everyone should have a say in decisions
Speaker 1: that affect them. If we are working on a project together,
Speaker 1: and we should all get to decide how we are
Speaker 1: going to do the work rather than someone telling us
Speaker 1: how to do it. We will honor people's different levels
Speaker 1: of experience and wisdom as we listen to each other's ideas,
Speaker 1: but we will not follow someone just because they act bossy,
Speaker 1: god here first, or have a higher social status in
Speaker 1: the dominant culture because they're a professional, white, older male,
Speaker 1: formally educated, etc. Consensus decision making happens when everyone in
Speaker 1: the discussion hashes out possibilities and modifies a proposal until
Speaker 1: everyone can live with it. Consensus cultivates interest in the
Speaker 1: whole group's purpose and wellness, rather than cultivating a desire
Speaker 1: to have things exactly my way. In consensus, any participant
Speaker 1: can block a decision, so we take time to actually
Speaker 1: talk through each member's concerns because we cannot move forward
Speaker 1: without each other, because we are trying to build agreement
Speaker 1: by modifying the proposal until it comes as close as
Speaker 1: possible to meeting the full range of needs and concerns.
Speaker 1: We also build the skill of making decisions with group
Speaker 1: members and community members in mind, not just ourselves and
Speaker 1: our clicks, and being okay with something that is not
Speaker 1: our most preferred version going forward. That is, we learn
Speaker 1: to imagine how decisions affect us all differently and how
Speaker 1: to productively move forward taking other people's needs and desires
Speaker 1: into account. People can stand aside in consensus processes, letting
Speaker 1: others know that while they are not totally behind this proposal,
Speaker 1: they agree it is best for the group to go
Speaker 1: forward with the decision given all the views that have
Speaker 1: been expressed in the efforts made to address concerns. Here's
Speaker 1: an example of what consensus could ideally look like. Over
Speaker 1: a period of time, a group has hashed out a proposal,
Speaker 1: heard concerns, and collective discussions and tweaked it until it
Speaker 1: seems like everyone may be ready to agree. Someone calls
Speaker 1: for consensus and checks to see if there are any
Speaker 1: stand asides, those who want to signify disagreement but don't
Speaker 1: want to block the proposal for moving forward, or blocks,
Speaker 1: those with disagreements significant enough that they feel the proposal
Speaker 1: cannot be passed without modification. If there are blocks, it
Speaker 1: means the proposal needs more work. The person or people
Speaker 1: blocking can share their concerns, and the group can either
Speaker 1: work further on modifying the proposal then and there, or
Speaker 1: have some people work on it and come up with
Speaker 1: a way forward before the next meeting. If no one blocks,
Speaker 1: but many people stand aside, the group may decide to
Speaker 1: discuss the reasons for the stand aside for a bit
Speaker 1: longer to see if they can be resolved by making
Speaker 1: the proposal better. If someone finds themselves blocking a lot,
Speaker 1: it may be worth examining whether they are in the
Speaker 1: right group, Do they believe in the shared purpose, or
Speaker 1: whether they are withholding their views earlier in the process
Speaker 1: or feeling not life listen to in the group. In general,
Speaker 1: blocking should be rare. It is worth noting that this
Speaker 1: process often unfolds over multiple meetings, with step one happening
Speaker 1: at one meeting and a group of people agreeing to
Speaker 1: come to the next meeting with a developed proposal to
Speaker 1: be discussed. Consensus decision making does not mean that every
Speaker 1: decision is made by the whole group. Decisions can still
Speaker 1: be delegated to teams working on implementing part of the
Speaker 1: group's larger plan. For example, if the group does grocery deliveries,
Speaker 1: a specific team can work on filling out the delivery
Speaker 1: schedule and assignments. For consensus to work well, people need
Speaker 1: a common purpose, some degree of trust in each other,
Speaker 1: an understanding of the consensus process, a willingness to put
Speaker 1: the best interests of the group at the center, which
Speaker 1: does not mean people let themselves be harmed for the
Speaker 1: good of the group, but may mean being okay not
Speaker 1: always getting their way. A willingness to spend time preparing
Speaker 1: and discussing proposals, and skillful facilitat and agenda preparation. These
Speaker 1: skills and qualities can develop as any new group learns
Speaker 1: to work together. It is okay that we don't have
Speaker 1: all these in place at the start. The greatest area
Speaker 1: of strength for most mutual aid groups is a common purpose.
Speaker 1: Advantages of consensus decision making One better decisions. When more
Speaker 1: people get to talk through a decision, openly sharing their
Speaker 1: insight without fear of reprisal from a boss, parent, or teacher,
Speaker 1: more relevant information and wisdom about the topic is likely
Speaker 1: to surface. Two. Better implementation when we get to look
Speaker 1: at a proposal together and tell each other how it
Speaker 1: might be improved. Hashing out our best ideas until we
Speaker 1: have something that we all like or at least can
Speaker 1: live with, We are more likely to vigorously do what
Speaker 1: we all decided, instead of drifting apart or failing to
Speaker 1: follow through. Three. Bringing more people into the working them involved.
Speaker 1: People come to contribute, but they stay because they feel needed, included,
Speaker 1: and a part of something. Four helping to prevent co optation.
Speaker 1: When a small number of people have the power to
Speaker 1: shift the direction of a project, it can be hard
Speaker 1: to resist the incentives that come with co optation. Five.
Speaker 1: We learn to value and desire other people's participation. If
Speaker 1: the goal of our movements is to mobilize hundreds of
Speaker 1: millions of people, we need to genuinely want each other's participation,
Speaker 1: even when others bring different ideas or disagree with how
Speaker 1: we think things should be done. Making consensus decisions. Practicing
Speaker 1: meeting facilitation. Skillful facilitation helps us make decisions together, feel
Speaker 1: heard and included by each other, prevent and resolve conflict,
Speaker 1: celebrate our accomplishments and wins, grieve our losses, and become
Speaker 1: people who can be together in new, more liberating relationships.
Speaker 1: Some very basic elements of good meeting facilitation worth considering
Speaker 1: are start and end on time. Write out an agenda,
Speaker 1: a list of what the group will talk about at
Speaker 1: the meeting, a sign, a note taker who will take
Speaker 1: notes that the group can refer back to or share
Speaker 1: with people who couldn't be at the meeting. Assign each
Speaker 1: agenda item a time amount, and have a timekeeper watch
Speaker 1: the time so the group doesn't end up running the
Speaker 1: meeting too long or not getting to important items. Provide food, beverages, poetry,
Speaker 1: a game, or music. Also consider opening with a go
Speaker 1: around check in question that is funny or invites people's
Speaker 1: personalities to shine a little to help the meeting be
Speaker 1: a participatory in supportive space. Establish group agreements. The group
Speaker 1: can agree, for example, that each person will wait for
Speaker 1: three other people to speak. Before speaking again sometimes called
Speaker 1: three before me, or that they will respect people's pronouns,
Speaker 1: or whatever else the group decides will create a caring
Speaker 1: and respectful space. Go over these agreements at the beginning
Speaker 1: of each meeting and make sure newcomers understand them and
Speaker 1: get to ask questions or suggest editions when talking about
Speaker 1: something important. If time allows, consider a go around so
Speaker 1: that the group hears from everyone. This is especially important
Speaker 1: if the same people are usually talking and others are
Speaker 1: usually quiet, And do you know what else is talking
Speaker 1: while we are quiet? That's right, the advertisements for the
Speaker 1: products and services that support this show and keep the
Speaker 1: pods casts podding, and we're back leadership qualities that support
Speaker 1: mutuality and collaboration. When we get a sense of ourself
Speaker 1: from fame, status, or approval from a bunch of strangers,
Speaker 1: we're in trouble. It is hard to stick to our
Speaker 1: principles and treat others well when we are seeking praise
Speaker 1: and attention. If we are to redefine leadership away from individualism, competition,
Speaker 1: and social climbing, we have to become people who care
Speaker 1: about ourselves as part of a greater whole. It means
Speaker 1: moving from materialist self love, which is often very self critical.
Speaker 1: I will be okay and deserve love when I look right,
Speaker 1: when others approve of me, when I am famous, and
Speaker 1: toward a deep belief that everyone, including ourselves, deserves dignity,
Speaker 1: belonging in safety just because we are alive. It means
Speaker 1: cultivating a desire to be beautifully exquisitely ordinary, just like
Speaker 1: everyone else. It means practicing to be nobody special. Rather
Speaker 1: than a fantasy of being rich and famous, which capitalism
Speaker 1: tells us as the goal of our lives, we cultivate
Speaker 1: a fantasy of everyone having what they need and being
Speaker 1: able to creatively express the beauty of their lives. This
Speaker 1: is a lifelong, unlearning practice because we have all been
Speaker 1: shaped by systems that make us insecure, approval seeking, individualist,
Speaker 1: and sometimes shallow. Yet we also have all the deeply
Speaker 1: human desire to connect with others, to be of service
Speaker 1: in ways that reduce suffering, and to be seen and
Speaker 1: loved by those who truly know us. So we can
Speaker 1: notice these learned instincts and drives in ourselves and unlearned them,
Speaker 1: that is, make choices to act out of mutuality and
Speaker 1: care on purpose. Margaret, here, I'm going to interject with
Speaker 1: my own thoughts, which I like never do. But this
Speaker 1: is a thing that I think about a lot because
Speaker 1: I actually come to a position where I'm, you know,
Speaker 1: an anarchist, socialist or whatever, like someone who's very pro community.
Speaker 1: I come at it from a much more i would
Speaker 1: sayessentially individualist background, right, And I'm not ashamed of that.
Speaker 1: And actually I think that this piece is really important
Speaker 1: to that this idea having a fantasy of trying to
Speaker 1: be rich and famous is bad for you as an individual,
Speaker 1: even if you're less concerned about the community, being more
Speaker 1: concerned about the community, like cultivating a fantasy where everyone
Speaker 1: has what they need to be able to creatively express
Speaker 1: the beauty of their lives. That is a nicer and
Speaker 1: freer way to live. Because if you're constantly seeking points
Speaker 1: in this point system that we've been sold, you're never
Speaker 1: going to be happy. And I know that's like easy
Speaker 1: to say or whatever, but it's just true. And so
Speaker 1: I think that even if you are coming from an
Speaker 1: individualist position, which I don't think is inherently bad, it's
Speaker 1: just a thing to be careful around. I think that
Speaker 1: this sort of pro social way of organizing and imagining
Speaker 1: life to be better is frankly better for you as
Speaker 1: an individual anyway. Again, I'm sorry to add commentary Dean.
Speaker 1: I hope you forgive me for that. Back to Dean's writing, burnout.
Speaker 1: Burnout is a reason people often give for why they
Speaker 1: leave mutual aid groups. Burnout is more than just exhaustion
Speaker 1: that comes from working too hard. Most often, people I
Speaker 1: meet who describe themselves as burnt out have been through
Speaker 1: painful conflict in a group they were working with and
Speaker 1: quit because they were hurt and unsatisfied by how it
Speaker 1: turned out. Burnout is the combination of resentment, exhaustion, shame,
Speaker 1: and frustration that makes us lose connection to pleasure and
Speaker 1: passion in the work and instead encounter difficult feelings like avoidance, compulsion, control,
Speaker 1: and anxiety. If it were just exhaustion, we could take
Speaker 1: a break and rest and go back, But people who
Speaker 1: feel burnt out often feel they cannot return to the
Speaker 1: work or that the group or work they were part
Speaker 1: of is toxic. These feelings and behaviors are reasonable results
Speaker 1: of the conditions under which we do our work. We
Speaker 1: are steeped in a capitalist, patriarchal, white supremacist culture that
Speaker 1: encourage us to compete, distrust, hoard, hide, disconnect, and confine
Speaker 1: our value to how others see us and what we produce.
Speaker 1: Our work is under resourced in important ways. Many of
Speaker 1: us come to the work because of our own experiences
Speaker 1: of poverty or violence, and doing this work can activate
Speaker 1: old wounds and survival responses. We come to this work
Speaker 1: to heal ourselves in the world, but we often do
Speaker 1: the work in ways that further harm ourselves and impede
Speaker 1: our contribution to the resistance. When our groups are focused
Speaker 1: on getting important things done out there, there is rarely
Speaker 1: room to process our strong feelings or admit that we
Speaker 1: do not know how to navigate our roles in here.
Speaker 1: Burnout is created or worsened when we feel disconnected from others, mistreated, misunderstood, ashamed,
Speaker 1: overburdened with outcomes, perfectionist or controlling. Burnout is prevented or
Speaker 1: lessened when we feel connected to others, when there is
Speaker 1: transparency in how we work together, when we can rest
Speaker 1: as needed, and when we feel appreciated by the group,
Speaker 1: and when we have skills for giving and receiving feedback.
Speaker 1: There are several things that groups can do to cultivate
Speaker 1: conditions that prevent, reduce, or respond to burnout, and there
Speaker 1: are things that individuals experiencing burnout can do Before People
Speaker 1: who are burnt out leave groups, they often cause a
Speaker 1: lot of disruption at damage, so this section is also
Speaker 1: aimed at reducing the harm that burnt out or overworked
Speaker 1: people can cause. Figuring out how to have a more
Speaker 1: balanced relationship to work and overwork is a matter of
Speaker 1: both individual healing and collective stewardship of the group. Signs
Speaker 1: of overwork and burnout high stress when thinking about tasks
Speaker 1: being performed by someone else who might do it differently,
Speaker 1: or the group coming to it a different decision than
Speaker 1: we would make. Feelings of resentment I've done the most
Speaker 1: for this group, or I work harder than anyone else.
Speaker 1: This can include creating a damaging group culture of competition
Speaker 1: about who works the hardest, not respecting group agreements or
Speaker 1: group process because we feel above the process as the
Speaker 1: founder or the hardest worker. Feelings of competition with other
Speaker 1: groups that are politically aligned or with other issues or
Speaker 1: activists that we perceive as receiving more support, Feelings of martyrdom,
Speaker 1: desire to endlessly be given credit for our work, a
Speaker 1: desire to take on tasks and responsibilities in order to
Speaker 1: be important to the group or control outcomes. Feeling overwhelmed
Speaker 1: or experiencing depression and or anxiety, Feeling like we have
Speaker 1: to do all these things, cannot see any way to
Speaker 1: do less work or have less responsibility, inability to let
Speaker 1: others take on leadership roles, hoarding information or important contacts
Speaker 1: that others cannot rise to the same level of leadership.
Speaker 1: This behavior is usually rationalized in some way, a life
Speaker 1: and death feeling that it must be done the way
Speaker 1: I do it. An extreme version of this can result
Speaker 1: in leaders sabotaging the group or project rather than recognizing
Speaker 1: that it may be time to step back and take
Speaker 1: a break from leadership. Paranoia and distrust about others in
Speaker 1: the group or other people working in this kind of work,
Speaker 1: Feelings of being alone, feelings of me against members of
Speaker 1: the group, other groups. Everyone over promising and under delivering,
Speaker 1: which can lead to feeling fraudulent and afraid of being
Speaker 1: caught so far behind. Having feelings of scarcity drive decision making,
Speaker 1: there's not enough money, time, attention, having no boundaries with work,
Speaker 1: working all the time during meals. First thing upon waking
Speaker 1: the last before sleeping during time that was supposed to
Speaker 1: be for connecting with loved ones, not knowing how to
Speaker 1: do anything besides work, not having fun, and feeling relaxed
Speaker 1: on vacation or days off, dismissal of the significance of
Speaker 1: group process, and overvaluation of how the group is perceived
Speaker 1: by outsiders such as funders, elites, and others, being flaky
Speaker 1: or unreliable, being defensive about all of the above, and
Speaker 1: unwilling to hear critique. I'm doing so much, I'm killing
Speaker 1: myself with work. How can you critique me? I can't
Speaker 1: possibly do any better? Slash more shame about experiencing all
Speaker 1: of the above. We also carry around fallback attitudes and
Speaker 1: behaviors that can undermine our principles, especially when we are
Speaker 1: stressed out in over capacity. These can be behaviors we
Speaker 1: learn from dominant culture and also roles we learned in
Speaker 1: our families. When we are stressed and overworked, these things
Speaker 1: can come out in damaging ways. It can mean we
Speaker 1: misuse or obstruct group processes, disappear from the work, or
Speaker 1: act from a place of superiority or dominance on the
Speaker 1: basis of gender, race, ability, class, or educational attainment. How
Speaker 1: mutual aid groups can prevent and address overwork and burnout.
Speaker 1: Overwork is pervasive in mutual aid groups, and if we
Speaker 1: can move away from shaming and blaming ourselves and others
Speaker 1: and toward acknowledging it, we can support change. It is
Speaker 1: hard to confront another person about behavior that is harmful,
Speaker 1: and it is hard to be confronted about harmful behavior
Speaker 1: and listen to what is being said. The ideas below
Speaker 1: do not change that, but they may help individuals or
Speaker 1: groups create concrete steps to address the problems. One make
Speaker 1: internal problems a top priority. The group cannot do its
Speaker 1: important work if it is falling apart inside and cannot
Speaker 1: do its work well if it is promising to do
Speaker 1: work it does not have the capacity to do. This
Speaker 1: does not mean the group's work needs to stop, but
Speaker 1: it may mean calling a moratorium on new projects and
Speaker 1: commitments so that the situation does not worsen, so that
Speaker 1: people can carve out time for working on internal problems. Two.
Speaker 1: Making sure that new people are welcomed and trained to
Speaker 1: co lead. This means new people are given a full
Speaker 1: background on the group's work, understand that they are being
Speaker 1: asked to fully participate in all decisions and have space
Speaker 1: to ask any questions they need to in order to participate.
Speaker 1: Ensuring that everyone is getting access to what it takes
Speaker 1: to co lead is essential to building leadership among more people.
Speaker 1: Group members and the group as a whole would be
Speaker 1: better off if many people are leading, not just one
Speaker 1: or two. Three Establish mechanisms to assess the workload and
Speaker 1: scale back. How many hours is each member working? Is
Speaker 1: it beyond what they can do and maintain their own
Speaker 1: well being? Did they actually track their hours for a
Speaker 1: week to make sure they are aware of how much
Speaker 1: they are working. Assess the workload and scale back projects
Speaker 1: into the workload is under control. Create a moratorium on
Speaker 1: new projects until capacity expands. Enforce the moratorium. No one
Speaker 1: can unilaterally take on new work for the group or
Speaker 1: for themselves as a member of the group. Four Build
Speaker 1: a culture of connection. How can the group's meeting culture
Speaker 1: foster well being? Goodwill? Connection between members, eating together, having
Speaker 1: check ins with interesting questions about people's favorite foods, plants, movies,
Speaker 1: or politicizing moments may feel silly at first, it makes
Speaker 1: a big difference. Bringing attention to wellness into the group's
Speaker 1: culture means helping members be there as multi dimensional people
Speaker 1: rather than just as work or activist machines. People need
Speaker 1: to build deep enough relationships to actually be able to
Speaker 1: talk about difficult dynamics that come up, or those dynamics
Speaker 1: will fester. Make sure that the facilitation of meetings rotates,
Speaker 1: including agenda making and other key leadership tasks. Rotating tasks
Speaker 1: can help us address on fair workloads and transparency concerns.
Speaker 1: Making sure everyone is trained on how to facilitate meetings
Speaker 1: in ways that maximize the participation of all members of
Speaker 1: the group can help. Whenever there is danger that just
Speaker 1: a few people will dominate an important conversation, use a
Speaker 1: go around rather than having people volunteer to speak Quieter
Speaker 1: members speaking up can really change the dynamic six as
Speaker 1: a group. Recognize the conditions creating a culture of overwork.
Speaker 1: It is not one person's fault and everyone may be
Speaker 1: feeling the different forms of pressure. Have one or many
Speaker 1: facilitated discussions about the pressures and dynamics that lead to
Speaker 1: overwork or to an individual's dominating or disappearing behavior. Create
Speaker 1: a shared language for the pressures that members may be
Speaker 1: under so that they are easier to identify and address
Speaker 1: Moving forward, what individuals experiencing overwork and burnout need. In
Speaker 1: addition to creating group approaches to burnout, we can take
Speaker 1: action in our own lives when we recognize our own
Speaker 1: symptoms of overwork and burnout. This requires us to work
Speaker 1: on changing our own behavior and that we be willing
Speaker 1: to examine the root causes of our impulses to over commit,
Speaker 1: to control, to overwork, or to disconnect. This is healing
Speaker 1: work aimed at helping us be well enough to enjoy
Speaker 1: our work, make sustained, lifelong contributions to the movement we
Speaker 1: care about, and receive the love and transformation that is
Speaker 1: possible in communities of resistance. Above all, we must take
Speaker 1: a gentle approach to ourselves, avoid judgment, recognize the role
Speaker 1: of social conditioning and producing these responses in us, and
Speaker 1: patiently and humbly experiment with new ways of being. The
Speaker 1: compulsive worker, overworker, or control freak might come to understand
Speaker 1: their needs in the following ways. I need trusted friends
Speaker 1: who I can talk to about what is going on,
Speaker 1: who I can ask for honest feedback about my behavihavior,
Speaker 1: and who can help support me and soothe me when
Speaker 1: I am afraid of doing something in a new way.
Speaker 1: For example, these people might remind me that even though
Speaker 1: someone else in the project will do this task differently,
Speaker 1: it is better to let them do it so that
Speaker 1: they can build their own skills and I can use
Speaker 1: the time for something healing that might be missing from
Speaker 1: my life. These people might help remind me that it'll
Speaker 1: be okay if I say no to a task or project.
Speaker 1: These friends can help me give love to the wounds
Speaker 1: underneath my compulsive, competitive or controlling behavior, reminding me that
Speaker 1: I am worthwhile and my value does not hang on
Speaker 1: what the group does, how much work I do, or
Speaker 1: what other people think of me. I need supportive people
Speaker 1: who can also point out compulsive, competitive, or controlling behavior
Speaker 1: or ideas when they hear them from me or see
Speaker 1: me engaging in them. It can be difficult to receive
Speaker 1: such feedback, but it is truly a gift. When I
Speaker 1: get feedback from friends or collaborators about concerns they have,
Speaker 1: I need to resist the impulse to defend my mine.
Speaker 1: I solve a critique the way they delivered their message.
Speaker 1: This feedback, including any anger they express while sharing it,
Speaker 1: is likely a sign that others think I am a
Speaker 1: leader and what I do matters. They are doing the
Speaker 1: hard and uncomfortable task of raising a concern because they
Speaker 1: see me as a person with influence. I can remember
Speaker 1: that no matter how it is delivered, this feedback is
Speaker 1: an investment in me and our work and an act
Speaker 1: of love. I can seek out a friend separately to
Speaker 1: process the difficult feelings that receiving this feedback brings up.
Speaker 1: The need to avoid acting out of my defensiveness or
Speaker 1: taking on a victim narrative is especially important when I'm
Speaker 1: in a position of privilege of any kind and or
Speaker 1: have more developed leadership in the group or project. If
Speaker 1: I hate everyone I'm working with, or feel like I
Speaker 1: am going to die, or like I have to stay
Speaker 1: up all night working, this is probably about something older
Speaker 1: or deeper in my life, not about the current work, workplace, group, coworker.
Speaker 1: If my heart is racing, if I feel threatened, if
Speaker 1: I feel fel like I can't get out of bed,
Speaker 1: if I feel like I can't speak to my coworker
Speaker 1: or I'll explode, I am probably experiencing pain deeply rooted
Speaker 1: in my life history. To get out of this reactive space,
Speaker 1: I need to devote resources to uncovering the roots of
Speaker 1: my painful reactions and building ways of being in those
Speaker 1: feelings that don't involve acting out of harm to myself
Speaker 1: for others, including the harm of overworking. The first step
Speaker 1: is recognizing that my strongest reactions may not be entirely
Speaker 1: or primarily about the work related situation directly in front
Speaker 1: of me, and being willing to slow down or explore
Speaker 1: what is underneath. I need a healing path for myself
Speaker 1: if I want to be part of healing the world.
Speaker 1: What that looks like is different for everyone, and could
Speaker 1: include an individual, group or group therapy, twelve step programs,
Speaker 1: including workaholics, anonymous exercise, body work, spiritual exploration, art practice, gardening,
Speaker 1: and building meaningful relationships with family or friends. Whatever it is,
Speaker 1: I have to engage in a gentle way and be
Speaker 1: careful that it does not become another thing to perfect
Speaker 1: or try to be the leader of. Pursuing a healing
Speaker 1: path can be a way to practice doing things because
Speaker 1: they feel good, rather than because they accomplish something. I
Speaker 1: need to stick around. It may be tempting to disappear
Speaker 1: altogether from a group if relationships have gotten difficult and
Speaker 1: I am experiencing negative feelings, about myself and others. If
Speaker 1: I want to move toward a more balanced role in
Speaker 1: the group, or even transition out altogether, I need to
Speaker 1: do so gradually and intentionally. I need to transfer relationships
Speaker 1: and knowledge and skills that I hold, and make sure
Speaker 1: that my transition is done in a way that ensures
Speaker 1: support for the people continuing the work. I'll end on
Speaker 1: this paragraph From Dean's conclusion, everything is at stake, and
Speaker 1: we are fighting for our lives. Mutual aid work plays
Speaker 1: an immediate role in helping us get through crises, but
Speaker 1: it also has the potential to build the skills and
Speaker 1: capacities we need for an entirely new way of living
Speaker 1: at a moment when we must transform our societ or
Speaker 1: face intensive uneven suffering followed by species extinction. As we
Speaker 1: deliver groceries, participate in meetings soew masks, write letters to prisoners,
Speaker 1: apply bandages, make medicines, facilitate relationship skills classes, hide our
Speaker 1: loved ones from the police, learn how to protect our
Speaker 1: work from surveillance, disable government vehicles, sabotage tech, plant gardens,
Speaker 1: and change diapers. We are strengthening our ability to outnumber
Speaker 1: the police and military, protect our communities and build systems
Speaker 1: that make sure everyone can have food, housing, medicine, dignity, connection, belonging,
Speaker 1: and creativity in their lives from every cell block, meadow,
Speaker 1: housing project, forest, trailer park, wilderness, abandoned lot, urban garden,
Speaker 1: in every watershed, bioregion, grassland, floodplain, burnscar, migratory path, and
Speaker 1: crisis zone. This is the work we must do, fighting
Speaker 1: back against the greed and violence that threatens all life,
Speaker 1: and building as many ways of surviving as we can.
Speaker 1: The stakes could not be higher anyway. That's all for
Speaker 1: this week. Thank you for joining me uncle's own media
Speaker 1: book club and for a very very abridged version of
Speaker 1: Dean Spade's Mutual Aid. You should check out the whole
Speaker 1: book if you have any interest in any of these excerpts.
Speaker 1: There's so many more nuggets of wisdom from Dean's own
Speaker 1: organizing and his research work, including sections on handling money,
Speaker 1: working with joy, unlearning, perfectionism, a lot of useful charts, resources, activities.
Speaker 1: If you're looking for a place to start or just
Speaker 1: need a place to recalibrate, mutual Aid, the book by
Speaker 1: Dean Spade is a good place to return to anyway.
Speaker 1: Dean Spade's biome. Dean Spade is an organizer, writer, and teacher.
Speaker 1: He has been working to build queer and transliberation based
Speaker 1: in racial and economic justice for the past two decades.
Speaker 1: He is a professor at the Seattle University School of Law.
Speaker 1: He's the author of Love and a Fucked Up World,
Speaker 1: Normal Life, and This Book Aid, which is getting an
Speaker 1: updated reissue from Versa with new chapters, updated case studies,
Speaker 1: and retooled writing for a new political context. Dean is
Speaker 1: also the host of the Love and a Fucked Up
Speaker 1: World podcast, Only it's not spelled fucked up. It's spelled
Speaker 1: f apostrophe, not apostrophe asterisk cked. You can keep up
Speaker 1: with this projects online at Deanspade dot net or by
Speaker 1: following him on Instagram at Spade dot Dean or Blue
Speaker 1: Sky at Dean Spade. Anyway, if you like this reading,
Speaker 1: you should let me know that you want more of it.
Speaker 1: You can find me Margaret on Blue Sky at Margaret
Speaker 1: because I got real lucky or I showed up early
Speaker 1: to Blue Sky whatever maybe that's embarrassing, and on Instagram
Speaker 1: at Margaret Kiljoy. And you can find the book club
Speaker 1: itself on the feeds for it could Happen here and
Speaker 1: cool people did cool stuff as well as its own feed.
Speaker 1: If you like Dean, I did an interview with him
Speaker 1: on mutual aid and disaster preparedness for my other podcast,
Speaker 1: Live Like the World Is Dying, which you should also
Speaker 1: listen to. Hazel helps me with the scripts and research.
Speaker 1: Eva does our audio editing. And that's it from us tonight,
Speaker 1: Stay safe, Stay dangerous, Fuck Ice Bye. It could Happen
Speaker 1: here as a production of cool Zone Media. For more
Speaker 1: podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website coolzonemedia dot
Speaker 1: com or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources
Speaker 1: where it Could Happen Here, updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot
Speaker 1: com slash sources. Thanks for listening.