In America, a lot of political activism is big business. While the activities of PACs and political consultants are probably well known here, I suspect it’s not well known that many of the very large number of young workers canvassing door to door for various progressive causes are paid employees of one organisation, the Fund for Public Interest Research. Organisations such as the Sierra Club outsource their door to door canvassing to this group. In these times reports on the experiences of the workers involved, and how the Fund resisted their unionisation efforts.
Miller and Harris’ personal stories—of idealism beset by frustration and turned to disillusionment, and of “mysterious firings� and “staff purges�—are wholly typical of the many accounts recorded in Activism, Inc., a new book by Dana Fisher, a sociology professor at Columbia University. Fisher interviewed hundreds of canvassers over a period of several years, with the permission of an organization that in her work goes under the pseudonym, “the People’s Project.� This organization is acknowledged to be one of the largest canvassing organizations in the United States.
Fisher found that canvassing experience severely limits the entry points for young people looking for a career in social justice. According to Fisher, the canvass industry yields a remarkably “small percentage [of canvassers who find] other work in politics after canvassing.� Far more often these young people go to the private sector. (This summer, Miller took a job with a solar panel installation company.) Activism, Inc. suggests that rather than a breeding ground for new generations of grassroots activism, the industry is eating the left’s young.
But who can change this system? The Fund has plenty of clients, and the clients get what they want—cheap lists of new donors. It’s the canvassers themselves who provide that value, through the investment of their youthful energy and political passion. In Los Angeles, this group was trying to ensure that their investment brought sound returns. Can we say the same for progressive politics?
In Queensland, students in their final school years do ‘Work Experience’, usually in an area of their own choosing. For many, if not most, it is such an eye opener, that when they leave school, they choose areas far removed from their ‘Work Experience’.
One of my sons was convinced he wanted to be a marine biologist; until he did work experience with the CSIRO. Bored witless. He is now a Patent Attorney.
hey dude,
this has nothing to do with your post-
just wondering if you are still a big fan of Fenella Kerneborne?
Yep – why do you ask?
oh cool. well i was just readings your comments on the net from last year. i met her on friday night on oxford st- and she totally is a lesbian. and shes really nice too.
I’d heard that actually!
Wish she was still on tv – she’s very good value.
i know! i wrote an angry email to sbs when the movie show got cancelled. but they never replied.
well its nice to meet you. there i was thinking i was the only hardcore Fenella fan – its cool to know that others that appreciate her too
Hi there — thanks for your interest in this story. I just wanted to note that I write much more about this industry (as well as about this particular group of unionizing canvassers) at my page at MyDD. I also wrote a book about my experience in this world during the 2004 election, published online here.
Let me know if you’d like to know more about the industry — and thanks again for your interest!
cheers
Greg
Exploitation of canvassers was one reason I never gave money to Greenpeace.