After the Protests Are Heard: Enacting Civic Engagement and Social Transformation

Sharon D. Welch

Published by New York University Press 2019

After the Protests Are Heard

Enacting Civic Engagement and Social Transformation

Sharon D. Welch

Volume 7 in the series Religion and Social Transformation

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479883646.001.0001

Overview
Contents

About this book

When the protests are over, a guide to creating long-lasting social change beyond the barricades

From the Women’s March in D.C. to #BlackLivesMatter rallies across the country, there has been a rising wave of protests and social activism. These events have been an important part of the battle to combat racism, authoritarianism, and xenophobia in Trump’s America. However, the struggle for social justice continues long after the posters and megaphones have been packed away. After the protests are heard, how can we continue to work toward lasting change?

This book is an invaluable resource for anyone invested in the fight for social justice. Welch highlights examples of social justice work accomplished at the institutional level. From the worlds of social enterprise, impact investing, and sustainable business, After the Protests Are Heard describes the work being done to promote responsible business practices and healthy, cooperative communities. The book also illuminates how colleges and universities educate students to strive toward social justice on campuses across the country, such as the Engaged Scholarship movement, which fosters interactions between faculty and students and local and global communities. In each of these instances, activists work from within institutions to transform practices and structures to foster justice and equality.

After the Protests Are Heard confronts the difficult reality that social change is often followed by spikes in violence and authoritarianism. It offers important insights into how the nation might more fully acknowledge the brutal costs of racism and the historical drivers of racial injustice, and how people of all races can contain such violence in the present and prevent its resurgence in the future. For many members of the social justice community, the real work begins when the protests end. After the Protests Are Heard is a must-read for everyone interested in social justice and activism – from the barricades and campuses to the breakrooms and cubicles.

Author / Editor information

Welch Sharon D. :

Sharon D. Welch is Affiliate Faculty and Former Provost and Professor of Religion and Society at Meadville Lombard Theological School. She is author of numerous books, including A Feminist Ethic of Risk.

Reviews

Xochitl Alvizo, California State University, Northridge:
Starting with the premise that the Trump administration signaled not the death throes of white supremacy but the pangs of its rebirth, Sharon D. Welch calls on liberals and progressives to take responsibility to mitigate evil…. To resource her readers for informed, strategic, collaborative-minded, and responsible action, Welch covers multiple theories of social change—what has worked, what has not, and what can be learned… Her book is a timely resource for both the practical theological and religious studies classroom offering concrete models and theoretical accounts aimed at expanding the student and future leaders’ imagination for civic engagement and collective action.

Both visionary and pragmatic, presenting daunting challenges to meet lofty goals.

Tamra Ryan, CEO, Women’s Bean Project and author of The Third Law:
After the Protests are Heard goes beyond the reasons why social change is necessary right now and speaks to how it can be done. Dr. Welchs book covers the practicalities and pitfalls of affecting change and dispels the notion that saving the world is easy. It show us creative and innovative solutions and encourages us to improve upon and spread the good ideas.

George F. DeMartino, Professor,Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver:
This book addresses those with institutional power and influence, helping navigate obligations and opportunities to build communities that promote equality and respect. With Sharon Welch as our guide, we learn the nature of the challenges we confront, including the forces that distort our identities and values. But Welch also explores the specific strategies that are available and, indeed, already being pursued by creative activists to realize a better world. The book is extraordinary: a clear-eyed, theoretically informed, and engaging antidote and response to the authoritarian turn in contemporary politics.

Gary Dorrien, author of Kantian Reason and Hegelian Spirit and Imagining Democratic Socialism:
After the Protests Are Heard makes a luminous case for Sharon Welch's later-career emphasis on enacting a hopeful, constructive, and inclusive feminist progressivism. Like her, the book brims with good-spirited intelligence and a hard-won conviction that progressives must take ethical responsibility for the concrete consequences of their rhetoric and action.

Stresses progress and process rather than pie-in-the-sky goals that see protests dissipate when they are unrealized. . . More of a call to reason than a call to arms, the book offers hope in the face of great challenges.

Welch offers actionable responses to systemic injustice in this . . . expansive guide to the third wave of social justice... building what is right. Filled with innumerable examples of effective social action, this . . . important work will give the guidance social justiceminded readers are seeking.

Nonprofit Leadership Toolbox:
After the Protests are Heard is one of the most important books of the decade for activists, social entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, and anyone else that envisions a socially just and economically sustainable future.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction The Soul of Democracy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. A Declaration of Interdependence The Science of Democracy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
2. “The Lightning of Possible Storms” Theories of Social Change Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
3. “Go Social, Go Green” Environmentally Sound and Socially Just Economic Development Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
4. “Belonging, Not Belongings” An Economy of Gratitude and Reciprocity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
5. Global Connections and Cultural Humility The Science and Artistry of Community Engagement Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	134
6. Just Living Practices of Catalytic Social Engagement Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	168
Conclusion The Soul of Democracy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Just Living Passport A Journey of Discovery Lynda J. Sutherland Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251