Community Organizing

New Challenges in Our Area

William Sundwick

Let’s start with some assumptions about 21^st century American politics. Assumption #1: many, many people are poorly served by their local governments; assumption #2: virtually all communities have some people who are quite content, but most others much less so; assumption #3: those who are most content are that way because they have a voice in the political process.

Assumption #4: the political power imbalance requires extra-governmental activity, or organization, to move it. That’s what community organizing is all about. Those who are discontented because they lack access to their local governments can gain more access through these organizing intermediaries.

How is this done? All local jurisdictions in the United States, like state governments, and the federal government itself, have popularly elected representatives and executives. Yet, some elections are less democratic than others, because of voter interference by political parties, or incomplete (or inaccurate?) information made available to voters.

Since community organizing entities are usually 501(c)(3) organizations – they cannot support partisan actors, or lobby on their behalf – they must limit themselves to non-partisan voter information and registration.  Nevertheless, community organizers can easily advocate for ballot initiatives, economic plans (including allocations in public budgets), and even changes to law, without running afoul of those 501-c restrictions.

How do they accomplish this advocacy? Elected bodies in local jurisdictions must at least appear to be working for their constituents if they intend to stand for re-election, so they have an incentive to be responsive to organizations that present public clout, through media exposure and support from influential community leaders – often the pulpits of religious institutions. Advocacy is carried out in these venues, sometimes even including street demonstrations and marches. It often comes down to sheer numbers of bodies – “seat-warmers” at a local county board meeting, or marchers gathered outside with placards (and reported by local media). That’s my usual role!

There is some risk in these tactics. Arrests can be made at demonstrations, and media exposure can be negative from some outlets. Community organizers should always expect that their actions will cause, at the very least, increased tension with those forces who support and benefit from the status quo. A poorly planned campaign for some social good may experience blowback from the targeted groups, which can dull community momentum. And the interests of the marginalized community members must always be paramount -- they must be the final arbiters of any actions.

Fifty years ago, when Saul Alinsky wrote his book Rules for Radicals, he laid out the principles of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), concluding that the strongest community organizations were religious institutions. An interfaith alliance of churches and synagogues could pool their efforts at community betterment around local umbrella organizations. These were the IAF chapters around the country.

VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) is the Northern Virginia IAF affiliate, founded in 2008. VOICE includes an active cadre of Muslim places of worship, along with traditional Catholic, Protestant, Unitarian, and Jewish congregations. But our region, like others, has recently seen a decrease in concentrations of affected communities. Churches in the area have been losing members. Their budgets have been strained. Some of the old congregations have been dropping their VOICE partnership, mostly due to their changing demographics, and consequent challenges keeping up their dues. New clergy and new congregations can be approached. Some new ones are being added (an established Presbyterian church in my neighborhood just joined).

But many marginalized groups leave the area, or at least move farther out – where they can afford to live. Arlington and Alexandria, especially, are becoming more affluent (and white) as gentrification inexorably pushes the less privileged out of the community. The coming of Amazon to Arlington will only exacerbate an already untenable situation for much of the local service sector of lower income families. “The rent is too damn high!”

This has led VOICE to alter its strategy for 2020 and beyond. Expanding on the model proposed by Alinsky, it now seems that religious institutions need to be supplemented by other community allies. Organized labor, shunned by Alinsky as too parochial in its interests, now may be a potential target for outreach. Likewise, teachers (by law in Virginia, non-unionized) have professional associations; these, too, could be VOICE partners. In addition, tenants’ associations for housing issues, and PTAs for school issues.

While the tactics for advocacy remain unchanged – get local politicians to listen because they fear electoral reprisal if they don’t – the changing demographics in the “inside-the-beltway” communities like Arlington and Alexandria make that somewhat harder. Wealthier citizens are now beginning to outnumber the marginalized in these places.

Arlington and Alexandria do have an important service sector, however, including teachers, police, firefighters. Increasingly, these public servants cannot afford to live in (or even near) the communities where they work. Hence, affordable housing remains a goal of VOICE organizing, both locally and in Richmond (the General Assembly will be voting on funding for housing this session). Localities and Richmond also share responsibility for zoning (yes, the Dillon Rule in Virginia, gives the General Assembly potential influence over city and county zoning authority!). “Upzoning” for multi-family development in single family neighborhoods is an important tool for increasing affordable housing availability.

Criminal justice reform and education resources for school counselors and pre-K are also on VOICE’s docket for 2020. Suspension of drivers licenses for non-payment of court costs is an issue in Richmond, as is state funding for more guidance counselors (current rate: 500:1 ratio of students to counselors – VOICE advocates halving it to 250:1).

Whether the venue is the Arlington County Board meeting or the General Assembly in Richmond, the basic principle is still to show up! Numbers are what politicians, and the media, can see and report.

The original Saul Alinsky theory remains valid. Voiceless people need numbers to be heard; numbers have power for elected officials. But the IAF “Iron Rule” still applies: Never do for people what they can do for themselves. It’s about giving voice to the voiceless, not amplifying the voice of those who are already heard!

Am I Old Yet?

An Update

William Sundwick

Warp & Woof has seen other pieces about getting old. It seems I owe the reader an update from time to time. I am now mid-way through my fifth year of retirement.

I wouldn’t contest the rationale for my exit from the Library of Congress after 42 years – the decision was a sound one, backed by sound reasoning. The retirement adventure began with excitement and enthusiasm in 2015. I was getting out before I got old. This was good. The first thing I noticed was what an incredible relief it was to sleep in every morning. (I am not a lark by nature, but an owl.)

As time passed, the distance increased from the institution I had served for the bulk of my life. I went back only once, within the first year after retiring – for a tour with our neighbors and their then seven-year-old grandson. He was impressed; me not so much.

By now, I can safely say that I’ve retained absolutely no knowledge of the things which qualified me for my highest-level position, and my status at the Library. It’s telling that I’ve written only one post in Warp & Woof about anything I learned from a career at the Library of Congress!

My wife’s situation is different. She still works there, in an analogous position to mine. We’ve discussed her retirement decision process using the same criteria I used in making my 2014 decision. It doesn’t work for her, since she has something I lacked – deep personal friendships with some of her colleagues. Even Facebook friends carried over from work are now fading from my active interest. Apparently, my professional life was rather shallow compared to hers.

My credo is “don’t look back” – that 42-year career is no different from my ancient childhood memories of growing up in Flint, Michigan. Nothing is forever.

Other social outlets have become suitable substitutes for whatever I lost from my professional relationships at the Library. There’s church, community, and my Writers’ Group. Then, there are my kids – and grandkids – all local still!

I am also fortunate that no major health concerns have emerged (yet). I find that good habits regarding fitness and diet do seem to pay dividends. Practicing good habits is the best way to do maintenance as we get older, even if gym memberships don’t necessarily constitute social engagement.

While some interests from earlier phases of life (even the first couple of post-retirement years) have waned – sex, cars, and computer/software geekery among them – others have emerged, like politics, philosophy, and popular music, seen as art. I feel my mind is still active; I read lots, listen to podcasts, and continue to write for this blog. I am immensely grateful for time spent with my two sons, and the grandkids. Babysitting is a joy!

So, when do I get old? Could it be when I become more absorbed with my legacy than my life? I don’t spend much time with that perennial question: “Will anybody miss me when I’m gone?” Ultimately, it doesn’t matter since I won’t be here to know. And memories are different from “missing” someone, anyway. But we do all have legacies.

I suspect mine will be divided between the concrete legacy (financial, educational, values transmitted to offspring) and the abstract legacy (impact on strangers and unborn generations). I can see evidence of the concrete legacy every day, but the abstract variety is more elusive. The latter might make me wonder what I was doing for 42 years at one of the world’s foremost cultural institutions. Screw it! Hardly anybody deserves the privilege to worry about those things, right? I’m not ready yet to spend time justifying my legacy, either variety, as “good.” Leave that for others to judge.

So, if I’m not old yet because I don’t worry about my legacy, am I maybe starting to get tired? The answer is both yes and no. As noted above, sleep is a motivator -- perhaps even more now than five years ago? But when awake I can usually still engage in lively conversation on any number of issues. I believe I have no difficulty getting people to understand what I’m saying. People, in general, are never tiresome – although my grandchildren can be very tiring!

A final indicator of being old might be the role dreams play in my life. Are they still there? I must confess to a “new boredom” at times. Much of what sparked my imagination in times past only elicits a “meh,” or yawn, now. Perhaps I need to find new emotional stimuli? Cultural conditioning is a constraint here in my response to art. I always look to younger folks (like my kids) for help in this area. Millennials are still the best interlocutors for art appreciation.

Whether I decide to define myself as old or not, there remain the Erik Erikson developmental stages of life. I am now wrestling with stage 8, “Integrity vs. Despair” – working full-time on the complete integration of my personality. This is the final act. I’m waiting only for stage 9, the hypothetical one suggested just before the Eriksons’ deaths, where everything rewinds back to the beginning!

I should be asking myself if there is anyone I missed – any debts I still owe? Are there still some opportunities to exploit? And, if I’m truly old, I need to start prioritizing what to do with the time left. Should I start leaving Post-It notes? “But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep” – Robert Frost.

What Is Post-Postmodernism, Anyway?

Time for Something New

William Sundwick

Introduction: Postmodernism

Those of us introduced to art and aesthetics through a mid-century lens thought all things modern were products of the twentieth century – especially, the early twentieth century. They included dadaism, surrealism, and theatre of the absurd. These were protesting a tyrannical art establishment controlled by an elite art school aristocracy. The Avant-Garde emerged, spelling the end of modernism. Thanks to new technologies of art reproduction (cinema, wax recordings, radio), art was becoming more accessible to a wider audience. The old elites were losing their power. Cultural relativism replaced scientific determinism, absolutism, in art. Soon, the conceits of late modernism, including cubism and abstract expressionism, also became old-fashioned and conventional.

The twentieth century was awful in many ways. Despite tremendous technological progress and greater egalitarianism, there were those horrible wars, and growing insecurity afterwards. The brittleness of capitalism became apparent with the Great Depression, and nuclear annihilation haunted us throughout the post-WWII Cold War. What’s more, prosperous societies of the global north (North America and Western Europe) were struck by the folly of imperialism – the global south (all other cultures) were recognized as the struggling majority in the world, kept down largely by our heavy boot.

Multi-cultural diversity was now a goal. Variety of cultural experiences, sometimes expressed as moral relativism, became a dominant theme in western art. “Postmodernism” was the name given to this new sensibility.

The Unraveling

Like modernism before it, postmodernism, too, eventually got old. A new art establishment now set the standards, after changing a few rules. Postmodern art may have been more “woke,” but was no more open, thanks to a patronage system that still controlled exhibiting and distribution.

In political culture as well, postmodernism began to show strain. Tribalism made a depressing comeback. Critics saw cultural relativism as ultimately leading to “post-truth” politics in our public discourse.

For young artists, the pressure to conform to standards clearly created by elites who benefit from them is unacceptable. Yet, being anchorless with respect to cultural norms exacerbates the growing depression, anomie, felt by many young people. The retreat into tribalism offers some solace.

In the 21^st century, we are now confronted by the specter of climate change destroying civilization – much as we feared the bomb in the Cold War years. What have we done? Is there a way out? What is the role of art, anyway, regardless of how much time we have left?

Moral relativism does not make us feel better. Our political culture must be more than sheer will to power. We want universal truths. We want to experience them through art. We want unity, not division. I turn to art when I want to discover those universal truths inside me. I know that the world is bigger than my tribe. When I create – when I write for this blog – I want to think I’m giving something to others. And, art is pervasive throughout life. Artistic expression depends only upon the medium chosen by the artist, and the depth of feelings expressed.

Metamodernism

Over the last decade, there has emerged a debate among some cultural theorists and philosophers of aesthetics about the contours of whatever new aesthetic will replace postmodernism. Timotheus Vermuelen, Robin Van den Akker and Luke Turner have each used the term “metamodernism” to describe a pendulum-like movement swinging between modernism, through the space of postmodernism, and into something beyond. This sticky pendulum picks up concepts, styles, and subject matter as it swings. It has been doing this for a hundred years, encompassing the whole epoch of modernism and postmodernism together, depositing what it scoops up at the doorstep (or studio) of today’s young artist. It gives them the material they will work with. It is sincere, more than ironic, experiential more than abstract, and ultimately humane and idealistic as well. Ethics becomes a primary concern. It’s okay to believe in things. In its oscillation, the pendulum becomes acutely sensitive to the demands of the moment. It’s okay to search for meaning. Intellectual exploration remains a noble pursuit.

Students pursuing metamodern truths will study the past, pay attention to their surroundings in the present, and talk with others about the future.

They will recognize nihilism as the most negative product of both modernism and postmodernism. Creativity is not destruction. It is certainly not true that there are no values. The artist’s role is to crystalize and depict those values.

Common experiences should be the primary source material for metamodern art. Cross-cultural (even cross-species?) and very basic – perhaps neurological.

As in the past, when social constraints interfere with art, there will be an avant-garde ready to deal with the situation. Smashing those constraints, and overthrowing the establishment which enforced them, was thoroughly rehearsed when it was time for modernism to be overthrown by postmodernism. And the pendulum of metamodernism will not ignore that avant-garde as it swings past into the post-postmodern future. Revolution is in the air once again in the 2020s. 

Examples

While still speculative, some of the characteristics of the new post-postmodern sensibility might be found in recent works of visual arts, urban planning, theater and film, music, and politics.

In the visual arts, a new school of painters have called themselves “Stuckists,” after a poem written by one of them about being “stuck” on their art. The group celebrates figurative painting and photography, as opposed to abstract, or “conceptual.” They also have coined the term “remodernism” to denote their dedication to rediscovery of some of the fundamental principles of modernism, lost to the postmodernists of the last half-century. Their main aim seems to be dethroning what they call “ego-art,” which springs only from the mind of the artist, without context in real life experience.

Tom Turner, landscape designer and urban planner, has embraced the term post-postmodernism to describe his approach to design of public spaces. He relies on fundamental geometric patterns and Jungian archetypes to create spaces which convey comfort and familiarity to the occupants.

Although cinema is often suborned to the profit incentive, some recent activity in the same direction has been observed by critics. Simple human stories are ascendant over deeply ironic, nihilistic fantasies and dystopias. Despite the need to appeal to a mass audience, indie films and TV are beginning to show signs of change. The new economy of streaming services has enabled much more creative work in television.

One recent big-screen offering, Knives Out, illustrates a complex metamodern relationship to popular detective fiction. It’s a story familiar to fans of the modernist Agatha Christie, or the board game Clue. A famous mystery writer dies unexpectedly following a family gathering at his gothic home. The family is immediately suspected of foul play by an improbable private detective brought in by local police as a consultant. The police favor ruling the death a suicide. Although its script contains much postmodern irony, the basic layout of the story is strictly Agatha Christie modern. Each intuitive hunch of detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is fully explained in concrete real-world context. The overall effect is: “well, of course, that’s what happened.” It’s a fundamentally post-postmodern plot development with characters being slightly exaggerated versions of real-world people we all know.

Metamodernism is also heard in today’s popular music. The current vogue of country, or “roots,” music is indicative of what some critics call the New Sincerity. Folk has replaced rock as a favorite style of the young. The British band Mumford and Sons began life early in the decade with an uplifting folk-rock style, highlighting banjo and vaguely Christian-inspired lyrics. Their hit song “I Will Wait” demonstrated they were onto something. However, by the time they released their fourth studio album, the banjo disappeared, and the Jungian archetypes became deeper than the admittedly fuzzy religious references in their earlier work. If Delta Blues-inspired rock-and-roll was the harbinger of postmodernism (with punk and metal its pinnacle), then Mumford and Sons Delta album should be a prime example of post-postmodern popular music.

In politics, as in other artistic representations of culture, we now have politicians basing their election campaigns on “genuineness” – they are judged by the media, and voters, on how convincing they are about their ideals and beliefs. Both Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are experts at this. So was Donald Trump in 2016. Simple human stories, and how well we can relate to them, are presumed decisive. Regardless of the election’s outcome, the continuing drama of the campaign illustrates that metamodernist pendulum swing.

Can We Please Think of a Better Name?

New Sincerity? Remodernism? Metamodernism? Is there any utility in naming schools of art anyway? Labeling the new sensibility in aesthetics may have to wait for another generation, but names give some indication of the direction art is moving. “Post-postmodernism” is clumsy, but here’s what we know: real experience, concrete observable reality, and commonality of all humanity – or even all sentient beings, if you’re a vegan – is a new emphasis in art.

Beliefs can be real and justified. But continuous exploration and study help inform them. Nobody need be left out.