Mobilisation Lab Collective

Benchmark survey: understanding the learning ecosystem for changemakers - MobLab Building the power of changemakers to confront today's greatest challenges

86% of our respondents so far see financial constraints as the biggest barrier to building people power. So how will civil society respond to the rise of the far right and empower our communities?

Take part in our benchmarking survey: mobilisationlab.org/stories/benc...

YouTube video by More Perfect Union I Took Bernie Into Deep Trump Country. Can He Win Them Over?

How do we win back the many ordinary people who have voted for Trump? By having frank and honest conversations with them where we build connection and find common ground.

Lots of learnings for campaigners in this short film from More Perfect Union!

youtu.be/RP8Oxe6OxJc?...

Benchmark survey: understanding the learning ecosystem for changemakers - MobLab Building the power of changemakers to confront today's greatest challenges

Is civil society investing in people and leadership enough? Share your experiences to help us map out learning ecosystems in the sector.

We want to build a resource that helps us all shift the narrative from short term to long term investment in people power!

mobilisationlab.org/stories/benc...

Georgian authorities freeze accounts of seven NGOs The Prosecutor General’s Office accused the organisations of inciting violence.

Georgia govt freezes accounts of seven NGOs in attack against civil society. Accuses the orgs of funding anti-government protests in 2024. This case is another example of nationalist governments attacking civil society to silence criticism.

oc-media.org/georgian-aut...

A powerful anti-rights movement is growing in the UK A powerful anti-rights movement is growing in the UK, threatening to roll back our hard-won freedoms and rewrite the rules on whose rights, bodies and lives deserve protection. But - we refuse to be d...

Powerful actors are mobilising against rights across the world. From attacks on migrants, anti-trans hate, and anti-abortion lobbyists. This new report from @amnestyuk.bsky.social maps the rise of anti-rights groups in the UK and who funds them.

www.amnesty.org.uk/anti-rights

Thanks for sharing! We hope you found these tools useful.

Anti-Oppression Tools for Campaigners Tools for campaigners to understand how systems of oppression play out in your campaign problem and dream of a future where we are all free.

Anti-Oppression & Campaigning

Tools to help campaigners understand how racism, sexism, ableism, and other forms of systemic oppression play out within your campaign problem and dream of a future where we are all free. @mobilisationlab.bsky.social

mobilisationlab.org/resources/an...

The Colors of Protest Color is a powerful way to represent hopes, ideals, but also frustrations and injustices. Let’s look at how colors have become symbols…

Design matters - to the masses as well. This article covers which colors have represented mass movements and protests around the world and what they represent in their messaging. What colors are you incorporating into your campaigns? medium.com/demagsign/th...

Meta to suspend political advertising as EU transparency law looms The social media giant follows Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which made a similar decision in November.

Starting October 2025, Meta is banning political advertising in the EU, which will also include social issues. As campaigners, we should already be strategizing to build #organic #peoplepowered digital strategy, even more essential in years to come. www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025...

🌬️ Citizen-led renewable energy as a key measure against energy poverty during heatwaves💡🌡️

The community wind energy project by our member @ecopowercv.bsky.social and the Belgian city of Eeklo proudly stands out as an exemplary model of local action!
↓↓↓

The Guardian article: Temperature records broken as extreme heat grips parts of Europe

🚨Record heat is hitting again

To protect yourself:
⛲Stay hydrated
🏖️ Avoid direct sun

And to protect everyone’s future:
⛔PHASE OUT FOSSIL FUELS, the driver of the climate crisis!

Top 10 Summer Reads for Campaigners < Sheila McKechnie Foundation In this blog, SMK Programme Support and Communications Officer Greta Mauch shares her top 10 book recommendations for campaigners.

For your summer reading, here's a great list of books for campaigners by Sheila McKechnie Foundation.

'Emotions and Social Movements' and 'How to Win Campaigns' are two classics. What are some of the best books you've read on campaigning/organizing this summer or year?
smk.org.uk/top-10-summe...

Festivals under fire: DJ boycotts and outrage after KKR takeover The recent acquisition of Superstruct Entertainment by the American private equity company KKR is causing considerable unrest within the European festival world.

Cultural strategies and communication are important in the mass success of people-powered campaigns: one of the latest ones is the artist-driven boycott of music festivals and brands owned by KKR, an investment firm with ties to military and Israeli companies. www.eventplanner.net/news/11002_f...

A big thank you to the organisations and movements that inspired this issue: @ulex-project.bsky.social, @healingjusticeldn.bsky.social, @frontlinedefenders.bsky.social, @partnersglobal.bsky.social, and many more not yet on BlueSky.

Image: Close-up of the mural "Be tender with yourself - listen to your rage", created by Fearless Collective on the streets of Garibalda, Tunis. Fearless Collective works at the frontline during crucial moments of resistance to make space for collective imagination, creative thinking, social discourse and beauty.Text overlay reads: MobLab Dispatch July 25 - putting wellbeing at the heart of movement building

How do we stay human in the face of war, genocide, ecological collapse, and authoritarianism?

This month's Dispatch explores how we put wellbeing in the heart of movement building work - sharing resources and ideas to help you prioritise wellbeing!

Read here: zc.vg/UGwdE?m=0

Picture of activists in Argentina calling for better trans rights in a protest. MobLab logo in corner. Text reads: Trans Resistance in an oppressive world Celebrating and learning from trans community resistance to anti-trans narratives

MobLab Dispatch for June is about celebrating trans activists resisting the rise of anti-trans narratives around the world.

You’ll find:
- tools to understand the modern anti-trans movement to help fight back
- examples of trans activism
- recommendations for campaigners

Read: zc.vg/7gboy?m=0

Why didn’t we Stop the War? An Evaluation of the Campaign against the Iraq War The Commons is an online library for the change makers of the world and for those interested in social change, activism, organising, advocacy and justice.

Some key lessons from the 2003 anti-war movement in Australia:
➡️ polite opposition did not change things
➡️ tactics chosen based on what was comfortable not on impact
➡️ civility culture kept them away from disruptive actions

Polite protests don't change the world

commonslibrary.org/why-didnt-we...

There's a lot to be said about identity, solidarity. But a simple place to start: the people who are willing to fight for their neighbors when their neighbors have different problems have a very, very good chance of having neighbors to fight with when you all share problems

all this to say, know your target and aim at where it hurts them most for actual meaningful change

2/2

most people seem to think the current geopolitical madness is temporary and things will eventually swing back. hate to tell say it but so long as tech oligarchs control large platforms, media & the knowledge ecosystem, this will likely remain the new normal

1/

Budapest Pride – Cancelled by the State; Reclaimed by the People The Hungarian government banned this year’s Pride parade in Budapest. Yet people still came out in such numbers that the event turned from one of support for the LGBTQ+ community to a direct challenge...

“It felt like a revolution. Or maybe a rerun of 1989 – but queerer.”

No corporate floats or sponsors, just people marching side by side. Budapest Pride saw 200,000 people turn out in defiance to a government ban of the event.

balkaninsight.com/2025/06/30/b...

Zohran Mamdani offered New Yorkers a political revolution – and won | Bhaskar Sunkara Now the New York mayoral candidate he needs to ensure an electoral win that translates into tangible improvements in people’s lives

"In the face of a skeptical public, Mamdani was even able to communicate democratic socialism as a universal politics rather than a niche identity or a dangerous ideology."

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Pro-Palestine activists declare victory after shipping giant Maersk divests from Israeli settlements : Peoples Dispatch Maersk’s decision follows over a year of pressure by the “Mask off Maersk” campaign, led by the Palestinian Youth Movement

The Palestinian Youth Movement’s #MaskOffMaersk campaign just landed a major win! Global shipping giant A.P. Moller - Maersk has divested from illegal Israeli settlements. This campaign used clear targets and mobilized a strong base to achieve its mission: peoplesdispatch.org/2025/06/23/p...

Funder-inflicted trauma and how it affects nonprofit leaders and our sector Hi everyone. Before we get started on today’s topic, happy Pride! To all my colleagues who are lesbian, gay, (fellow)...

The funding crisis is hitting our sector hard, but how do the expectations from funders impact campaigners?

Funder-inflicted trauma keeps us thinking small, breeds individualism, and asks us to accept unjust systems in name of being "practical".

Must read blog 👇

nonprofitaf.com/2025/06/fund...

The Guerrilla Marketing Campaign Against Elon Musk As Tesla’s profits drop, a group called Everyone Hates Elon is going viral for plastering London with fake advertisements for the company, infiltrating a car showroom, and inviting the public to trash...

Everyone Hates Elon Musk have been able to do things that mainstream non-profits would never be able to do, but we hope that this campaign helps inspire more campaigners to be bold and unapologetic in their campaigning comms.

www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

The People's Academy Introducing the People's Academy — your guide to the key questions of our time.

Step up your learning on liberation and class struggle by signing up for The People's Academy, an exciting online course exploring the history of resistance movements in the global south and exploring the strategies of liberation.

act.progressive.international/academy/

Fascism and the English Language A conversation with Anat Shenker-Osorio

The language we use to describe Trump and other far-right governments matters. We must not shy away from calling out fascism in our comms.

Watch this conversation between Anat Shenker-Osario and Michael Podhorzer on fascism and language.

www.weekendreading.net/p/fascism-an...

Image is a screenshot of a headline from The Guardian reading: No evidence of genocide in Gaza, UK lawers say in arms export case

Jan 2024: The International Court of Justice orders Israel to protect Palestinians from the risk of genocide

Dec 2024: @amnesty.org finds sufficient evidence to conclude that Israeli authorities’ conduct in Gaza amounts to genocide

May 2025: The UK government ⬇️

The humanitarian funding model needs radical reform, but those reforms cannot come from those currently in power in the system. True transformation can only come when crisis-affected people are the ones shaping the future of the humanitarian system.

At Microsoft’s 50th anniversary events two women of colour bravely protested the company’s complicity with the genocide in Palestine.

Their protest shows that we all can play a role in speaking out against injustice, and all must use our voice and our power to speak up on Palestine.