Introduction
Sarah Durieux (France), Riley Rocco (Pew), Darcy Gunning (AMWU) and Lauren Farrow (Renew Australia for All) presented this panel session on building coalitions at FWD+Organise 2024.
In a world of polarisation, how do we create spaces of agreement to work together?
This panel discussion heard from four campaigners about how building strong coalitions have helped to help achieve big wins.
- Sarah Durieux shared her experiences of building cross-sector collaborations during the recent elections in France.
- Riley Rocco shared how a deep organising approach built relationships with unlikely allies to win a ban on fracking in Channel Country in Queensland’s Lake Eyre Basin.
- Darcy Gunning talked about how a coalition of unions, employers and governments is helping to support a just transition in Collie, Western Australia.
- Lauren Farrow shared tips from building a coalition for the Renew Australia for All campaign.
In this article, we’ve captured some of the core tips on coalition building shared during the session.
Why Build Coalitions?
Coalitions show governments and decision-makers our power, and how we can work together.
- In the face of disinformation, polarisation and fracturing of public space, coalition building is important.
- Coalitions can help a campaign to be durable and non-partisan.
- We can’t run campaigns on climate alone anymore, it’s not powerful enough – so we need an alliance between movements.
Tips on Forming Coalitions
Strong coalitions aren’t related to organisations’ brands or policies, but are built on trusted relationships between individuals in different organisations. Interpersonal relationships that aren’t based on organisations are important.
- Renew Australia for All built momentum by frontloading with highly invested individuals, and then circling out through workshops and listening tours to find a shared vision. Then they launched the campaign officially.
- Coalitions require: trust, transparency, diversity, clarity and alignment.
- You’re more than the sum of your parts – so choose your ‘parts’ wisely! Choose who you’re working with consideration of diversity and different skill sets.
- People in the engine room might have different approaches: some more risk averse, while others are risk takers. That tensions is good if you’re aligned on values and principles.
- Be clear on decision-making processes – how do you adopt policy in the coalition? Have care principles for how you engage with each other even when you have different values.
Working Together
Alliance timelines take longer as you need to hold everyone together. Slow down so you don’t break relationships.
- Don’t wait until things are perfect to communicate, messy overcommunication is better than under-communicating with your partners.
- Coalitions are always a work in progress, you’re building a plane as it’s taking off.
- Organise coalitions through conversations, but also through action – show up for your partners in the coalition, support their issues not just your own.
- Support the background work (administration etc.) to help build power for your partners.
- Accept different tactics and positions in the coalition.
- Understand who are your “imperfect allies” versus who are your “political opponents” – who is in the coalition and who is not. Sometimes people agree with you, they just don’t know how to frame it – so seek out allies to build a broad coalition. But remember that differences in values can create frictions, sometimes it takes too much work to educate each other on all sides.
- Talk to everyone, but manage the difference between what they gain and what you gain. Manage the risk when talking to opponents, don’t give them more than you gain.
- If you’ve built good strong relationships they’re easier to pick back up when you need to fight again and keep it sustainable.
- You need a whole lot of flexibility or it will all fall apart.
To maintain coalitions you have to keep talking to people all the time – constantly building and nurturing relationships.
Explore Further
- Coalition Building: Start Here
- Coalition Building – Topic on the Commons Social Change Library
- How do you build a coalition despite frictions?
- Nuts and bolts of building an alliance
- How to build networked coalitions
- Five principles for building powerful coalitions
- Listen to How to Win – Coalition Building, Season 1 Episode 2, ChangeMakers podcast.
- Watch Building Powerful Coalitions, Season 1 Session 5, ChangeMakers Organising School.
- Commons Librarians’ Recommended Resources for FWD+Organise 2024
- Other resources from FWD+Organise 2024
