Three presentations at the AERC touched on the subject of civil society and
social movements. The conference began with a panel that asked the question
"why adult educators should care about civil society". A symposia the next
day critiqued the concept of civil society from 6 different perspectives.
AERC concluded with a post conference discussion dedicated to sharing the
Social Movement Learning Project with conference attendees and invited
community activists. The amount of interest and energy evident at the three
presentations suggest that Social Movement Learning is a very relevant and
timely study.

At the post conference discussion, the panel sought feedback from the
attendees about issues that ought to be considered when framing and
planning the Social Movement Learning Project. These notes are a brief
summary of that session whose goals were to:
1. Stimulate discussion on Social Movement Learning;
2. Critique ideas on the Social Movement Learning Project;
3. Encourage the attendees to join in building alliances.

The presentation began with Phyllis Cunningham setting the context for the
project.  She painted the underlying questions of the project in broad
strokes: how do grassroots learning and knowledge production influence
public policy and academia? Does that validate peoples' knowledge and the
space they construct within which to create it?

Budd Hall picked up the thread by asking whose knowledge counts and how
that question could be turned on its head using knowledge as a tool for
collective transformation. He outlined the Social Movement Learning Project
progress to date, the partners and alliances already built and the
institutional backers who were helping shape the project so far. He listed
some of the key features of Social Movements: informal interaction
networks, with shared beliefs for collective action that practiced protest
and offered proposals for change.

Budd suggested two working hypotheses:
1. Social Movements are, in addition to however they are acting, powerful
actors who are changing how 'we' think
2. Academia and global policy networks can be a practical support to the
struggles of Social Movement organizations.

He also listed ways of working on the Social Movement Learning Project,
using the AERC as an example of people coming together for collective
action and energy creating change. The Social Movement Learning Project is
committed to:
1. Sustained engagement in a place of energy and passion for at least 5
years, across borders for change
2. Social Movement working groups
3. Bio-regionally focused to link relationship to place and nature
4. Bottom up control
5. Action orientation for engaged understanding
6. Diverse approaches to understand in many different ways

Pramod Parajuli, who flew in from Oregon for this session, spoke of frames
of understanding needed for the Social Movement Learning Project. Social
Movement knowledge intersects, among other things, culture, identity,
ecology, learning and situates it on an eco-regional basis locally. To find
solutions to the global problems, a 5-fold crisis has to be understood, the
crises being of:
1. Nature
2. Social justice
3. Identity
4. Governance
5. Community
6. Knowledge democracy that is locally and ecologically grounded.

Now is the time. Different kinds of class formation based on interaction of
nature and capital. Civil society is only as great as the degree of
empowerment of the people who make it. Bringing back local knowledge and
capturing culturally embedded roots are key.

Marcello Zwierzynski provided a reaction to Pramod's description of the
moral and ethical fervour that exists along side the usual academic
objectivity and the need to be explicit about the relationship between
knowledge ethics and production and alternative epistemology. Marcello
agreed that the suggested broad definitions of all terms - social
movements, knowledge, environment, community - is good but also needs
specificity and the project itself needs explicitness. He spoke of social
movements that offer alternatives that shift the grammar of life and shape
the scope of public policy.

In the past, ecological knowledge has been based on what works whereas now
it is based on commodities. Daily life is at the level of work, habitat,
social cultural affections, play. The Social Movement Learning Project has
to: 1. Be grounded in the foundation of transformation of daily life; 2.
Acknowledge the relationship between knowledge and power; 3. Have public
policy informed by peoples' knowledge of real life and place. He asked this
question: how should Social Movements participate in the political arena in
order to be heard?

Regina Curry spoke of her experience and research that went against the
mantra "do no change". She questioned whether partnerships are labeling
people as part of the problem and not validating their knowledge or
respecting them as co-learners. Who benefits and what is changing? It
creates nervousness to contribute or participate when the result is
appropriation of the knowledge and voice. How are the credits and profits
distributed? She also suggested that the dialogue and agenda setting phase
of the Social Movement Learning Project should take time to ensure that
these historic and ongoing imbalances are adjusted.

The developed world decides who is rich and who is poor, whereas poverty
should be locally constructed since it is a particularity. Do not assume
what the bottom is. In fact, someone needs to assume the role of decoding
and interpreting academic language on the ground so that real communication
happens. Social Movements have two faces: self critical and reflective;
regenerative and transformative. The challenge is to find ways to make
possible the alternative practices from the real every day life.

The floor was opened for questions/issues and agenda for the Social
Movement Learning Project. Attendees spoke from the floor and made the
following points as input for the SMLP to consider.

1. Have we reached a level where justice is no longer possible?

2. Who has the internal language to say what is happening to them and whose
'language' should be used to articulate/conceptualize their daily lives and
experiences and culture?

3. What is the ecology of resistance and literacy? Change and energy
happens in the margins/edges of an ecosystem and that is not a place of
deficiency.

4. Who is 'them'?

5. To the extent that the North dominates can advocating /educating for
change and access to power and knowledge be sufficient to countermand that
domination?

6. The citation syndrome paralyzes all but 'legitimate' knowledge and
dictates the form in which some voices are heard. Can we create a space for
all voice in all/more forms?

7. The benefits and constraints for all, whether academics or communities,
and the value added, the skill and capacities have to be realistic.
Everyone brings certain skills and we can contribute what we do best while
building capacity in new areas.

8. We should do more action than just writing papers.

9. How can we analyze civil society when neo-liberals are also taking up
the term?

10. NGOs are middle up and basism exists. Analysis must include this reality.

11. The examples we use to critique daily lives should be respectful,
especially if the 'anecdote' we tell to make our point is about absent
groups and people. There are enough local stories and examples about
ourselves that we can use.

12. What are we/the system doing to prevent some i.e. African-American and
Latino males, from 'succeeding'?

13. An outcome of this event should be networks, chat rooms and other ways
to keep connected.

14. Have to discuss power in any discussion about civil society. In real
life those with might and power repress attempts at transformation of the
status quo.

15. Military organizations have to be evolved beyond their reaction to use
might and be included in the negotiations to redistribute power and
resources.

16. Nature transfers at a micro scale that does not obviously use energy to
transform. Micro scale stories are not told and that knowledge is not
shared.

17. The movement to change the inner city through gentrification is
creating a wasteland of the suburbs.

18. The cross cultural/racial/gender/diverse groups of peoples with
disabilities have to be considered in any project addressing social
movements.

19. Each of us individually is responsible for creating change and can not
leave it for academics.

20. Reflect on the fact that people all over the world are being killed for
their work in social movements.