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CO School
:
What
is CO ?
1) What
is CO - Old
Answer
2) 10 Steps to CO
Organization
What
is CO ?
- Old answer -
The following is from
the Tagisan meeting held in Quezon City in 1985. It was the common definition
of the 80 organizing groups who were there. Is it still relevant?
One
: CO begins and builds upon local, small and concrete
issues, those which the people want to do something about. It emphasizes
intensive and disciplined preparation of as many people as possible - from the
identification of the issue, the clarification of the issue, the
decision-making on courses of action, the evaluation and reflection of the
action taken. As such, CO is a continuously dynamic cycle that builds upon the
previous phase, from local to national, from concrete to more abstract issues.
Two: Consciousness-raising through
Experimental Learning:
Central to the CO
process is the development of awareness and the corollary motivation to act
upon reality. Conscientization is not achieved through traditional rote
memorization or the banking system of education but through practice. CO,
therefore, places emphasis on learning that emerges from concrete action and
which succeeding actions strengthen. It is through this dialectical relation
between theory and practice that a people's consciousness is progressively
raised.
Three : Participatory
and Mass-based:
CO is primarily directed towards, and biased in favor of,
the poor, the powerless and the oppressed. But partisanship is not sufficient.
Change must be achieved through a participatory process wherein the whole
community or as many people as possible are involved in the organizing
experience.
Four: Democratic Leadership:
The Community
Organizer is not the leader, neither are individuals and personalities.
CO is group-centered, not leader oriented, and leaders are identified, emerge
and are tested through action rather than appointed or selected by some
external force or entity. As a result, leadership must at all times be
accountable to the people.
Aims/Goals:
One: People's Power:
CO is aimed at achieving
effective power for the people. Through the process of CO, people learn to
overcome their powerlessness and develop their capacity to maximize their
control over the situation and start to place the future in their own hands. It
is progressive realization of the power that they possess and the ability to
influence the course of history that dramatically erodes the dehumanizing
effects of powerlessness. In the process of confronting the structures and
institutions that oppress them, people are transformed from dehumanized objects
into human beings who assert their rights, determine their destiny and stand
with dignity as a whole human being.
Two: Building
Relatively Permanent Structures:
Community organizing, aims to establish and sustain
relatively permanent organizational structures which best serve the needs and
aspirations of the people. These structures ensure maximum people's
participation while, at the same time, providing the venue through which the
people's organization can link up with other groups and sectors. It is also
through these structures that people can begin to test alternative ways of
doing things and internalize a new system of values so that localized
experiences become the building blocks upon which the blueprint of a more
desirable future is based.
Three Building Alliances:
People's organizations
and community organizers should build and/join any and all alliances that are
useful to the people without any a priori exclusion. This refers to
sectoral alliances, other people's organizations and alliances, multi-sectoral
coalitions, regional and national alliances, political parties, international
organizations, ever conscious of the difference between:
Tactical Alliances short-term, on the level
of issues and therefore, with enemies at times; and
Strategic Alliances- longer-term,
on the level of issues, as well as on more comprehensive bases, with friends
and likeminded groups, especially those with whom a unified political line is
possible.
Such alliances must not detract from the
autonomy and independence of the people's organizations must be based on a
genuine respect for the integrity of each group and must ensure genuine
people's participation.
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