- Mark Parker is a community organiser in the London Borough of Southwark. I am just setting out on the journey toward becoming an effective organiser and this is a place for me to reflect on the experience and what I am learning. I hope you will join in and offer your thoughts, so that we can turn my comments and ideas into a conversation.
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Author Archives: Mark Parker
Stories that really count
Last time, I explored three narratives that are currently being propagated across the UK, giving the powerful and influential opportunity to construct a debate that favours their interests. This week I want to explore how organisers can take action through … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy
Tagged collective identity, Common cause, culture, emotion, frames, heroes, human scale, myths, organisers, testing, values
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Posting this week
I’m sorry to say that due to losing broadband connection at my home, I am unable to post my normal blog this week. I hope to be able to return next Wednesday if I can obtain connection again. In the … Continue reading
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Lies, Lies and Damned Narratives
In this series on the nature and value of public narrative to community organisers, we have reached a stage where we can move on to look at the wider implications of storytelling. In the early parts of this overview, we … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy
Tagged ageing, austerity, benefit fraud, dementia, dependence, hero, neoliberalism, oppression, poverty, scroungers, skivers, Story Wars, strivers
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The Imperative of Now
Over recent weeks, we’ve been looking at storytelling and its place in community organising. As we arrive in the New Year, its time to finish outlining the approach to organising developed by Marshall Ganz of Harvard University. We have seen … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy
Tagged frames, leadership, Marshall Ganz, myths, practice, Story of Now, taking action
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Taking a break over Christmas
I want to wish all my readers a very happy Christmas and fantastic New Year. I hope you get the ideas, dreams and stories for Christmas that you deserve and that you get your community organised in the New Year. … Continue reading
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Formed by Our Story
I have been writing about storytelling and the importance of narrative to our lives for five weeks now. I have pointed to the importance of the way we frame our narratives, what memes we use to draw on wider cultural … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy
Tagged belonging, challenge, choice, hope, identity, inspiration, motivation, origins, outcome, public narrative, role of organisers, Story of Us, storytelling, values
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Uncovering The Story of Self
I’m in the midst of a series of posts about stories, storytelling and their important role in community organising. So far – here, here, here and here – I’ve considered the way story turns up just about everywhere, the nature … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy
Tagged challenge, choice, leadership, Mandela, Marshall Ganz, narrative, outcome, public realm, Story of Now, Story of Self, Story of Us, strategy
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Memes and Merchandising
As we enter Advent and our TV sets are filled with advertising for Christmas, the figure of Santa Claus looms large. The red clothes, white beard, round and cheery figure appears on everyone’s idealised Christmas list of symbols for the … Continue reading
Being the Hero of your own Myth
I read a couple of weeks ago that folk tales evolve in the same way as species do in biology. That is they follow a pattern of replication with variation that allows social scientists to use the same tools as … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy
Tagged archetypes, biology, Campbell, collective unconscious, evolution, hero, heroine, Jung, monomyth, Red Riding Hood, social scientist
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