Should Social Movements Negotiate?; Reflections of Emmanuel Aje on Social Movements and Community Organizing in West Africa

Should Social Movements Negotiate?

According to Samson Itodo,there’s no consensus to whether social movements want to negotiate with government.Negotiation is a tool used for Community Organizing.

Negotiation is a discussion that reaches to an agreement to compel negotiation and there is one thing a Community Organizer needs and this is POWER.

To negotiate you need to build power through:

• Attention
• Call for negotiation
• Call for protest

As a community organizer, ones duty is to remind them of the cost it would give them if they do not negotiate.

Must we NEGOTIATE as Community Organizers?

•It comes with the opportunity to get a good deal
• It opens doors where previously closed
Downsides of negotiation

•Movements stand the risk of losing momentum
•Firstly you build POWER and then you gain momentum.
At what point should we NEGOTIATE?
•When 2 different parties have different ideas•
When there is a common ground Also,when the power scale has shifted to one’s end, negotiation can occur

 Be prepared,build that power then NEGOTIATE
Build MOMENTUM!!!