Why we created this

The study of nonviolent strategy or “civil resistance” is a developing field.

This website is an accompaniment to a report that the Ayni Institute authors wrote about measuring movements through a Momentum organizing framework. Both the report and website are meant to be a resource for both funders and organizers who want to assess their own progress to “changing the weather” in our a political system.

The core idea that led us to conduct this research survey is our belief that funders typically apply metrics or assessment criteria to social change groups that are suited to some approaches to change – but not to mass movement groups.

While funders typically are interested in outcomes (legislation passed, regimes toppled, etc.), we support others who have claimed that funders must put more emphasis on understanding process milestones. AKA, funders should value the way a movement-building group grows its base and the way it shifts public opinion.

Our set of research especially aims to support the last point - showing examples from Occupy, Black Lives Matter, and immigrants’ rights movements on how movement work has shifted public opinion and is“changing the weather”for what is possible to win through many tactics.

In interviews, civil resistance scholars Dr. Chenoweth and Dr. Stephan confirmed that they are not aware of anyone doing systematic, academic research around social movements in the US and success in relation to participation rates (as they have done with maximalist campaigns against dictators in other countries) and that there would need to be more systematic data collection to make that possible. All of the interviews we conducted led us to believe that experts in the field are not aware of any effort to systematically collect data on how present-day social movements are “changing the weather” (the tide of public opinion, either).

We hope that this website and affiliated report serve as a tool for funders and organizational leaders to understand the mechanics of how mass mobilization groups affect long-term success, and as a jumping-off point for researchers interested in beginning or continuing studies of present-day social movements for reform in the United States.