The alchemy of activism - Turning money into good
Social action infuses money with the meaning and values of community and social solidarity. It is a form of alchemy - not the mythical secret magic that creates gold, but an open process that transforms "gold" into social good.
People who support Inter Pares have developed a confidence and trust in the work we do, and contribute money to support actions that they believe are important to create the kind of world in which we all wish to live. Yet rarely do we talk about money and its actual importance in our work.
So this is about money - and action. And it is about Inter Pares' role in raising and spending money to promote and support action that contributes to the cause of global justice and peace.
From this perspective, Inter Pares is two organizations in one. Inter Pares is an organization that raises money from the public and other sources to support our own work. At the same time, Inter Pares is a type of social action foundation, providing important funding to other organizations promoting justice and change around the world. Time and again when Inter Pares evaluates our relationships with counterpart organizations in various countries, we are forced to look critically at the issue of money. How important is money to these relationships? What is the relationship between money and action? When is money helpful, and when does it get in the way of effective action and more profound relationships?
Money, in and of itself, represents no permanent value, or values. It is action that infuses money with meaning, and makes it an instrument of values. Money invested in arms production and earned in the arms trade is infused with the meanings of militarism and the values of war. Money used to protect and extend privilege and private affluence takes on the meanings of privilege and is an instrument of greed.
But money can also serve to challenge these values. Social action transforms money, just as do militarism and greed. Social action infuses money with the meaning and values of community and social solidarity. It is a form of alchemy - not the mythical secret magic that creates gold, but an open process that transforms "gold" into social good.
This is the value-added of social activism: it transforms money from a mere commodity into an instrument of social change. It infuses money with a positive transformative quality. In this way money can be used to develop the capacity of people to better use their own resources - including money - to achieve social goals and promote justice and opportunity in the wider community.
In community action, money alone is never the most important factor; most work that Inter Pares supports is well underway before any money is spent. The soil of activism is community; the roots are in the links of social solidarity among people in the community. People come together to help themselves by helping each other, enriching their individual lives by transforming their common environment. This action always begins without money, except the little that is shared among members of the community themselves.
What money can do is assist in the transition from this kind of mutual support among those in constant need, to cooperative action that reduces vulnerability and begins to create a more secure and humane future. This process is possible when the soil of community is fertile and the roots of social solidarity well-established. When these conditions are absent, money can actually undermine attempts to build these conditions, creating dependency and widening divisions within communities.
It is Inter Pares' experience that modest amounts of money, used strategically and wisely, can help build the existing capacity of organizations and deepen initiatives for change.
| Reviewed April 19, 2006 |  |
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