ORGANIZING NOTES
(2000)
Mapping the Social World
Actors, Values, and Interests
(#2)
Introduction
You can begin "mapping" the social world of your organizing project, by asking four questions: who are the actors, what are their interests, what resources do they need to act on those interests, and what power do they have to mobilize those resources. This week we focus on actors and interests; next week, on resources and power.
Actors
Actors attend to their circumstances, act purposefully on those circumstances, and try to mobilize resources they need to achieve their purposes. Actors are not "social forces" but persons -- or groups of persons -- who remember, imagine, choose, and reflect on their choices. While "social forces" influence the decisions actors make, it is actors who make - and are responsible for - decisions that shape "social forces." How can we understand the "drug problem", for example, without taking into consideration the myriad dealers, smugglers, and producers who mobilize to frustrate every attempt to solve it. From an organizing perspective our actors play seven roles particularly important to recognize. As Interest Chart #1 shows, some of these roles overlap with each other.
• Constituencies - Constituents are the people at the center of the work, people whom we mobilize, whom we serve, to whom we are accountable. It makes a difference whether we think of people with whom we work as our constituents (to be mobilized, contributing their resources, self-governing), as clients (to be served, drawing on outside resources, non-self-governing), or as customers (to be "satisfied", exchanged with, sold to). Their "interests" are central to the mission of the organization. Voters in a particular district are constituents of an elected official. Workers who work for a set of employers are constituents of a union (why wouldn't they be constituents of their employer?). People with environmental concerns are constituents of environmental organizations. When constituents "join" an organization they become its "members", just as "citizens" are members of a democracy.
• Leadership - Leaders are drawn from the constituency, chosen by it, and have somehow earned their selection. They facilitate the work of a constituency in achieving its purposes, interact with other actors on behalf of a constituency, and are accountable to a constituency. Although leaders play important management role within bureaucratic organizations, they often have no role in relation to its clients. Leadership includes club officers, union stewards, members of a parish council, etc.
• Staff - These are full time or part time people who do the ongoing work of the organization. They may volunteer or they may be paid. They follow through on results of meetings, organize events, administer funds, etc. They may or may not occupy leadership roles and may or may not be drawn from the constituency. Examples include full time local union presidents, the chair of a local mission committee, the people who pass out leaflets on behalf of a candidate.
• Governing Body - Most organizations have a "body" that decides policy, makes major staff choices, and may or may not be involved in day to day activities. Constituency organizations choose their own governing body and it often overlaps with the leadership. In bureaucratic organizations the governing body may be self-selected, selected by outside groups, or by those who provide financial support. They rarely include leaders drawn from its clients. Governing bodies include union executive boards, organizing committees, boards of trustees, etc.
• Supporters - These are people and groups whose interests are such that they encourage the organization's work financially, politically, with time, etc. Although they may not be part of the constituency or leadership, they may sit on the governing board. Church organizations and foundations, for example, provided a great deal of support for the civil rights movement.
• Opposition - These are individuals or organizations whose interests conflict with those of the constituency whom the organization is trying to serve. It may not be obvious and may come out only in the course of a campaign. Employer's interests usually conflict with employees' interests, a tobacco company's interests conflict with those of an anti-smoking group, a street gang's interests conflict with those of a church youth group, interests of a Republican Congressional candidate conflict with those of the Democratic candidate in the same district, etc.
• Competitors/Collaborators - These are individuals or organizations with whom we may share some interests, but not others. They may target the same constituency we have, the same sources of support, or face the same opposition. Two unions trying to organize the same work force may compete or collaborate. Two community groups trying to serve the same constituency may compete or collaborate in their fund raising.
• Mediating Institutions -- are people or groups with no direct interest in the organization's work, but who may have an influence upon it. Mediating institutions may include courts (not always), the media, international tribunals, etc.
Interests
We have a picture of who the actors are, but what drives the action -- why we do what we do? Psychologists use a needs metaphor to describe dynamics at work within us not fully understood. Abraham Maslow, for example, depicts us driven by a "hierarchy" of needs, a pyramid resting on a broad base of "existence" needs, a narrowing center of "relational" needs, and a peak of "self-actualization" needs. But this makes it appear we don't deal with all these needs at the same time, suggesting that existence needs are "lower" than self-actualization needs. Clayton Aldefer developed a more satisfactory metaphor characterizing our needs as interactive and about existence, relationships and growth. Existence needs are about physical safety. Relational needs are about social safety (recognition, belonging, etc.). Growth needs are about learning, development. Psychologists like Jordan Peterson argue the consciousness responsible for our capacity for learning sparks our curiosity about the unknown, uncertain, and unpredictable but also can make us very fearful of it. They emphasize our need for beliefs – or stories – that can give us the courage to faces these challenges, while keeping our fears in check.
Needs alone cannot explain why we do what we do. Based on who we are, where we are, and when we are, we learn values that translate needs into interests, as Interests Chart #2 shows. Roy D'Andrade argues we don't live in the world as isolated little bundles of needs - or preferences as economists often describe them. Human beings are situated in specific life circumstances -- or social worlds -- defined by those with whom thy have relationships (family, friends, colleagues, community, etc.), an understanding of the world they have learned (identity, values, beliefs), and the resources to which they have access. Jerome Bruner argues the communities in which we grow up teach us to value some needs over others, as well as some ways of meeting them over others. As purposeful creatures, we translate these values into "interests" – or goals -- we pursue. We don't try to meet our existence needs in the abstract but, having learned to value meeting those needs in a particular way, we conceive aninterest in learning a career, getting a job, and keeping it. We conceive our relational needs as interests in maintaining this friendship, earning respect among those peers, or raising our family.
As Interests Chart #2 depicts, we have interests in many domains, although some may be more immediate than others: family, community, work, religious beliefs, cultural or recreational activities, and politics. Interests are not the same as values, but are shaped by them. Because of our values, we may have an interest in living environmentally responsible lives, doing meaningful work, or honoring religious or cultural traditions. Interests defined by the accumulation of wealth and power are certainly important, but only play a part in what is a far richer and more complex human drama.
Learning to recognize our own interests and the interests of others with whom we interact -- and the values upon which they are based -- is critical to understanding the dynamics which drive our social world. One way of recognizing values and interests is to reflect on "choice points" - forks in the road when we make choices based on the value we place on alternative paths.