Justice, Diversity & Inclusion: Start Here

Contents

Introduction

Welcome to the Justice, Diversity and Inclusion topic in the Commons Social Change Library. We believe that strong movements are made up of diverse participants, each bringing their particular talents, perspectives, and community connections. Developing such movements requires an appreciation for the value of diversity, as well as experience including, and working in solidarity with, those who are marginalised by the dominant assumed common culture. The restructuring of power relations and real engagement with justice concerns are necessary for true inclusion.

To help navigate within the broad scope this topic includes, we’ve outlined examples from four types of resources:

resources that clarify key concepts used in movements seeking to improve diversity and inclusion practices;
resources to help those building capacity to recognise and resist oppression of all forms, such as by seeking out diverse perspectives and recognising and leveraging privileges.
advice for taking action, including specific acts of inclusion, acts of solidarity, and acts of resistance.
examples of drawing on collective strategies to act together to build long-lasting movements for change, including resources focused on current better-future building practices, historical lessons, and inspiration for maintaining hope.

You can also search within the topic, narrowing down the results by browsing and filtering by Year, Resource Type, Activities, and Collections. Additionally, filtering by other Topics refine the search to resources that cross overs with another topic of interest (e.g. History, First Nations Resources, or Coalition Building).

Key Concepts

The concepts used in social movements are both valuable tools for critical practice and potential barriers to participation.

Key concepts provide the building blocks for imagining and creating change. However, short-hand references to concepts without explanation can be confusing; those who aren’t familiar with the terms can often feel excluded (the opposite of what we’re intending!)

One way to reduce this barrier is to amplify existing explanations of frequently taken-for-granted concepts used within social movements. To support this practice, we are gathering existing explanations of key concepts used for navigating diversity through inclusion and solidarity practices.

Oppression: The systematic subjugation of one social group by a more powerful social group for the social, economic, and political benefit of the more powerful social group. Oppression = Power + Prejudice.

— Power: The capacity of individuals, groups, or institutions to determine who gets what, who does what, who decides what, and who sets the agenda.

— Prejudice: A pre-judgment or unjustifiable attitude based on limited information, often based on stereotypes, that deny the right of individuals to be recognised and treated as individuals.

– Glossaries for Campaign Strategy, Community Organising and Solidarity and Justice

We are also collecting resources with introductory materials for key concepts and their context-specific associations, including:

Intersectionality: an analytic concept that emerged within the context of Black Feminist legal activism, is explained in Kimberlé Crenshaw’s TED talk The Urgency of Intersectionality
‘Nothing about us without us’: a slogan that emerged within Disability Activism, as explained by Carly Findlay in Centre the Voices of People with Disability
Consciousness-raising: a process for raising awareness of societal oppression while breaking down competition and isolation. Common with feminist movements during the 1970s, Holly Hammond’s (2017) Consciousness-raising post outlines the broader relevance of this practice for building social movements today.
Solidarity: a commonly used term with a complicated conceptual history, as described in Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea, by Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix

Building Capacity

Learning to understand the value of diverse perspectives and to develop inclusive and solidarity practices takes time. These resources provide avenues for listening to marginalised perspectives, recognising when we have relative privilege within different contexts, and advice for how to leverage these privileges effectively.

These resources offer some examples to start exploring from, for more, see tags such as Privilege, Minorities,

Seeking out marginalised perspectives

Many times it has been certain identities that have been more invisible, but in this world, I think it’s really a question for us as any space that we’re walking into, it’s a question for me: who is not being heard. – Noorulain Masood

Recognising and leveraging privileges

Use your proximity to power. Australia has a seat at the G20 and IMF—demand your government backs unconditional Debt Cancellation and the UN Tax Convention to stop the active bleeding of our economies. – Crystal Simeoni

Dealing with haters

If we’ve learned one lesson, it’s that organized haters are classic bullies. If they get away with bullying, they will only bully more. But we’ve learned another lesson too, that communities can push back against hatred. It’s hard work, but not daunting or overly complicated. This manual will show you how. – A Community Guide for Opposing Hate

Image of a placard with handwritten text: "We can disagree and love eachother unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppresion and denial of my humanity and right to exist" Robert Jones — Quote from Robert Jones, Jr. (2015)

Taking Action

There are many ways we can contribute to creating the changes we want to see in the world. For those seeking to contribute to a world where diversity is valued, these include acts of inclusion that reduce specific barriers to participation, acts of resistance that defy specific systems of oppression, and acts of solidarity that support the resistance acts of others in recognition that all systems of oppression are interlinked.

Acts of inclusion

Acts of inclusion aim to ensure everyone has equitable access to opportunities and resources they need to participate in a given context. What people need to be able to participate differ; there is no single checklist which applies to all people in all contexts. Additionally, we often have default practices we take for granted that can exclude people from participating in unintended ways.

Seeking out marginalised perspectives can highlight barriers to to participation and, while removing all these barriers requires broader systemic change, there are many ways that we can contribute to more inclusive experiences for people within our spheres of influence.

Without equitable access to life saving information we don’t get the option to stay alive during disasters. – Jason Boberg

The following resources offer a starting point for exploring the many easy inclusion wins we can contribute to in our everyday contexts.

For more, see tags such as Inclusivity, Accessibility, and Discrimination

Acts of resistance

Acts of resistance can help build collective power and contributed to social change in many different ways. There are many forms of resistance, including disruptive strategies, targeted campaigns, community organising, civil resistance tactics, and cultural resistance. The following sample of resources highlight the distinct experiences and shared lessons that emerge from specific acts of resistance across different contexts.

They challenge systems that prioritise short-term gains over collective long-term “survival”. They expose the false binaries designed to make the status quo seem inevitable. This fundamentally creates space for imagination. It allows young people to say the world doesn’t have to be this way because it wasn’t always this way and it won’t always be this way. – YouthxYouth

For more, see tags such as Civil Resistance, Direct Action, Blockading, and Bird-dogging, Hacktivists, and Movement building

Acts of solidarity

Sustained acts of solidarity can help us build on acts of inclusion and connect different resistance movements in the shared struggle towards transformative systems change. The following resources highlight the role of acts of solidarity in building mutual support relationships within and across different aspects of the broader shared struggle for justice and collective liberation.

Transformative solidarity is both a means and an end, the process of struggling together … towards the fundamental fellowship of humankind, connecting us with others despite apparent differences – Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix

For more, see tags such as Solidarity, Intersectionality, and Mutual Aid

A postcard featuring the quote: "If you have come to help me you are wasting your time... but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together" This quote is attributed to Lilla Watson but she emphasises that it was developed collectively with other members of a 1970s Aboriginal rights group in Queensland. — A postcard featuring the quote: “If you have come to help me you are wasting your time… but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together” This quote is attributed to Lilla Watson but she emphasises that it was developed collectively with other members of a 1970s Aboriginal rights group in Queensland.

Collective Strategies

The impact of individual acts of inclusion, solidarity, and resistance can be amplified when they contribute to collective strategies for building better futures. The following sample of resources includes some current collective approaches to building better futures, historical examples of collective strategies, and inspirational sources for maintaining hope in how our individual actions can contribute to collective strategies.

Building better futures

For all of us to be free, we must challenge and unlearn the oppressive systems within and around us. This is not a one-time act but a continuous process of reflection, accountability, and action. Our commitment to co-liberation requires facing uncomfortable truths and showing up for justice over and over and over again – Solidarity Is Practice Guide, Building Movement Project and Solidarity Is (2024)

The Story of the Victorian Treaty: Australia’s First Treaty presented by Ngarra Murray at Progress 2026
Prefigurative Politics in Practice
Action in Times of Uncertainty – makes the case for people power to address economic inequality and social exclusion – Winnie Byanyima, at Progress 2017.
All in For A Feminist Recovery – a Virtual Progress 2020 panel with Khara Jabola Carolus, Jo Schofield, Tuisina Ymania Brown, Dr Jackie Huggins AM, and Noelene Nabulivou
An interview with the founders of Black Lives Matter by Mia Birdsong (2016).
Identity Groups to Build Diversity and Power
Our fight for disability rights – and we’re not done yet, a 2017 TED talk by Judith Heumann
Young people leading the way by Sashenka Worsman from Oaktree
Queer is in! Now politics needs to catch up by Micah Scott
Reset 6: Centring Justice & Care
Movement Learning Catalyst: A Guide to Learning for Systemic Change

For more, see tags such as Theory of change, Collective care, Collective action, Organising, and Prefigurative politics

Historical lessons

We are living in times that will demand courage. When people ask me how do I draw hope, how do I stay encouraged, how do I continue to show up? The answer is that I look back. I look back and I look at how my existence here today is owed entirely to the courage of people who came before me. And so, what do I owe myself in that moment and to those who come after me? To exercise courage in this moment. – Bree Newsome Bass

For more, see tags such as History, Timelines, and Slow change

Maintaining hope

Hope just means another world might be possible, not promise, not guaranteed. Hope calls for action; action is impossible without hope. – Rebecca Solnit

For more, see tags such as Hope_Optimism, Hope – Messaging_Narrative, and Humour

Thanks to E.T. Smith, Commons Library volunteer, for putting together this comprehensive guide. If you have additional materials that should be included in this topic please contact the Commons Librarians.

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