Join Us to Map Social Movements in Quebec on March 21st
On March 21st at 6:00pm we invite you to join us in creating a collective map of the social movement landscape in Quebec. And we also encourage you to stick around for some food, socializing, and COCo’s AGM! Click here to register.
Social Movements in Quebec
Practically every season of 2012 was defined by major social movements in Quebec. The year began with vestiges of the Occupy movement hanging in the cold air, the student strike exploded in the printemps érable and continued into the early summer, and Idle No More took root in the late fall and had become a global movement by the beginning of 2013. Many of our community groups have felt inspired and empowered as we have been swept up in these social movements.
At COCo we are convinced that community groups play a key role in movements for social change. But we’re equally convinced that these movements for social change don’t just happen within the walls of non-profit, community sector organizations. And that is precisely why we are inviting you to join us on March 21st to create a giant map of social movements in Quebec. We won’t just be listing social movements, we will be mapping out the relationships between different movements, coalitions, regroupements, and our own community groups.
Now some of our member groups have been asking, “What exactly is a social movement?” We’ve been pondering this question ourselves and we have come up with a working definition that we think is pretty helpful:
“Social movements are made up of people, organizations, and networks that form connections between struggles, across boundaries, to build collective power.”
What do you think of that working definition? Does it help to clarify the scale and the nature of a social movement? Does it help to distinguish a movement from a community group, or a coalition?
We borrowed some of the language for that definition from Project South and the Peoples Movement Assembly and so it seems fitting to wrap-up this COCo Note with another amazing quote from Project South. We hope this quote inspires and challenges you as much as it did our movement building team at COCo!
“Our coordinated actions will achieve our shared purposes: to dismantle the systems that create and maintain racism, oppression and exploitation while also building the social and economic democracy that advances self-determination and sovereignty on multiple fronts. We have the history, the relationships, and the commitment to build strong social movements. We cannot merely build our organizations to sustain themselves as separate entities. We cannot achieve our ambitious visions alone. Together, we can chart our own course to liberation. “ Project South
