Martin Luther King Jr, campaign strategist

There was clearly much that was context-specific and unique about the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr’s role within it. But many of the principles and approaches underpinning the movement’s drive for change provide a valuable source of learning for us as campaigners today.

At its heart, the movement’s strategy was rooted in an understanding of the mechanics of change. Whilst King keenly believed in the philosophy underlying non-violent direct action and its transformative potential, its strategic efficacy was also key.

As King explained it, non-violent direct action “seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue”. This stress on provoking crisis resonates with analysis that political systems tend towards the status quo operating in ways that diminish prospects for change. The trick for campaigners is to find ways to punctuate this inertia, identifying and jemmying open the fissures, exposing latent tensions and creating new opportunities for progress.

These experiences are applicable to us because the civil rights movement represents a typical – though extreme – example of the power imbalance that campaigners invariably face. It’s almost always a David and Goliath struggle. To tackle this, the civil rights movement developed a ‘judo campaigning’ approach, using the weight of opponents’ power against them. By embracing the path to prison, for example, the movement undercut the power of jail as social control: “going to jail was no longer a disgrace but a badge of honour”. As a result, the arrest of King and others during the Montgomery bus boycott helped steel the movement’s resolve, as well as bringing unwelcome (to the Montgomery authorities) national attention.

Lined up against vastly more powerful opposition, the movement had to be constantly creative. In a volatile environment, King and colleagues could never know how specific actions would play out. In effect, they were relying on opponents’ misjudgements and misuse of power. But this wasn’t just based on hope. They were operating to the principle that you create your own luck: well-planned interventions carry the potential, though not the certainty, of unlocking progress. And so it transpired in Birmingham for example: the moment that Commissioner Bull Connor set the attack dogs on children, the tide of that campaign turned in favour of the civil rights movement.

The history of the movement suggests that, faced with inauspicious odds, it isn’t always necessary, or perhaps even possible, to start with a clear idea of exactly where you will end up. It’s about following the energy. But it’s important to have a plausible and well-grounded notion of the broad route to change. As King put it, “no revolution can take place without a methodology suited to the circumstances of the period”.

King was an astute strategist, as well as being an eloquent speaker, inspirational figurehead, and beacon for the movement. But he showed too that leadership is about more than constantly leading from the front. None of the big decisions - the bus boycott, the sit ins, the freedom rides, the school students’ participation in the Birmingham protests - was taken by him, but King carefully considered and then backed these initiatives when suggested by others. King himself described a leader as being a “moulder of consensus” and operated in a highly collegiate way. This assessment suggests that current criticisms of Occupy, for example, for lacking obvious leaders may be more reflective of the desire amongst commentators to see traditional leadership models in place than an intrinsic weakness within the movement.

King invested significant personal effort and capital in holding a diverse movement together, despite often-difficult relations - with those nervous of radical tactics on one side and those impatient with perceived timidity on the other. He dedicated so much energy to keeping the movement together because he recognised the importance of maintaining wide unity - especially needed when facing an unfavourable social, political and/or economic climate, as we in the sector now do. In particular, King demonstrated a high willingness to reflect and act on others’ criticisms, along with the strength of character to take difficult decisions in line with his overarching principles. In this, he represents an archetypal example to all of us in the sector of the importance of upholding our values in day to day working.

The civil rights movement also offers a classic example of (sometimes accidentally) symbiotic relations between insider and outsider campaigners. Outsider groups can help raise the profile of an issue and open space for dialogue that insiders can then occupy. Towards the end of his life Malcolm X self-identified that he had adopted this outsider role, when he noted that “it might be easier for whites to accept Martin’s proposals” after hearing him. Echoing this appraisal, King was relentless in encouraging meaningful engagement by invoking the spectre of extremism, along the lines that ‘if you don’t deal with me, more radical voices will come to the fore’.

King coupled warnings about extremism with constant and stark cautions to government of possible violence and rioting, showing how it’s about employing the right message at the right time for different audiences and contexts. The aphorism that “Martin Luther King didn’t say ‘I have a nightmare’” – cited by climate campaigners and others, to discourage messages that present a negative vision of the future - represents only part of the picture.

But it’s certainly true that King understood that a confident vision was more likely to engage and motivate support. In this, King was a forerunner of the developing analysis in parts of the sector of the importance of using the language of social justice to convey a positive vision of the future.

King’s capacity to fuse a transformative vision and sound strategic thinking, along with the power of his commitment to operating in ways consistent with his values, represent timeless qualities still very much relevant for campaigners today.