Counterpower
Counterpower is the single idea which explains why social movements succeed or fail. It has helped win campaigns, secure human rights, stop wars and even bring down governments.
Change can and does happen. But why is it that some campaigns succeed while others fail? Is it luck, or is there a common strategy unifying those that have achieved their aim, and what can we learn from the past? In Counterpower, activist Tim Gee seeks to get to the root of how change happens by taking an in-depth look at the strategies and tactics that have contributed to the success (or otherwise) of some of the most prominent movements for change from India’s Independence Movement to the Arab Spring. He concludes that any campaign is winnable in theory, but only if we are aware of our power.About the Author: Tim Gee is the author of Counterpower: Making Change Happen, shortlisted for the Bread and Roses Prize for radical non-fiction. He has campaigned with Occupy, Climate Camp, the Traveller Solidarity Network and the National Union of Students amongst others. He works as a grassroots trainer and has an MA in politics from Edinburgh University.
Tim Gee's Counterpower could not have been published at a more appropriate moment... From the Occupy protests to the Arab Spring, political movements are occurring on a scale and consistency that has not been seen for a generation.
This is without a doubt the best book on activism, and resistance to power, that I have ever read.
