escalate strategically
PHIONAH KYOKUSIIMA via Beautiful Trouble
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
Chinese Proverb
When authorities ignore the demands of the people, people can pressure them to listen and act. But to win, people must keep up the pressure. A target rarely gives in after one action, so it is often necessary to strategically increase the pressure on them in a step-by-step escalation that draws upon a diverse mix of tactics (see: PRINCIPLE: Choose tactics that support your strategy). The target will try to wait each pressure tactic out, but a well-organized campaign will then up the pressure in a new way. Each new action re-emphasizes the larger demand, builds strength to take the next escalated step, and reminds the target that the people are not going to leave them alone until they give in.
The 2017 Make Bushenyi Great Again (MBUGA) campaign in Western Uganda offers one great example of a campaign that used stage-by-stage strategic escalation to win their demands. Their target: the elected District Chairperson. Their demand: Institute a service commission (an office that handles government worker-related issues) for Bushenyi District.
First, they presented their grievances to the elected chairperson through a table dialogue; he promised they were working on it. One month later, nothing changed, so they opted to file a lawsuit against the local government. The Chairperson laughed at it and mocked the citizens for wasting their time and money. For the next five months, the case went back and forth; at every hearing it was postponed.
Local citizens became angry, and escalated the pressure. First, they chose a march and demonstration to capture the attention of higher-up leaders who could pressure the court to take the case. And then, a month later, they instituted a direct action that shut down the District Headquarters. Citizens left behind placards demanding a service commission. MBUGA also told the judiciary that unless there was action, when they came back, they would shut down the court house, too.
Seeing the determination of the people, and worried about an escalating scandal, the judiciary acted quickly. The case was heard in court in July, 2017 and citizens won the case. Victory!
The MBUGA campaign escalated from dialogue to legal action to street protest to a building take-over to a credible threat to come back and shut it all down. The campaign escalated not just the militancy of the tactic, but also the scale and number of participants in the action. And, wisely, organizers only escalated once the majority of participants realized it was necessary and were on board to take the next step.
Specific escalation steps may vary from campaign to campaign. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers won higher wages for farmworkers in Florida by very strategically escalating from grassroots organizing, to community-wide work stoppages against local growers, to hunger strikes, and eventually to a nationwide boycott against a global brand.
Wangari Maathai's Greenbelt Movement in Kenya escalated through a strategic series of steps from planting trees all the way to catalyzing a resistance that forced a dictator out of office:
1) Planting trees with rural women.
2) Placing political meaning on these trees.
3) Writing letters against the privatization of public parks and forests.
4) Going on hunger strike.
5) Occupying the parks to prevent their closure.
6) Stripping naked to demand release of political prisoners.
7) Mass actions to end Moi dictatorship.
Whatever the specific steps, the principle is the same, and summed up nicely by Saul Alinsky in Rules for Radicals: “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Creativity and agility are key here. As Alinsky says: “Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag. Don’t become old news.”
