The Revolution Will Not Be Funded or Televised

"And what are our priorities? Perhaps the real problem is that we don’t spend enough time imagining what we want and then doing the work to sustain that vision. That is one of the fundamental ways the corporate-capitalist system tames us: by robbing us of our time and flooding us in a sea of bureaucratic red tape, which we are told is a necessary evil for guaranteeing our organization’s existence. We are too busy being told to market ourselves by pimping our communities’ poverty in proposals, selling “results” in reports and accounting for our finances in financial reviews." Adjoa Florência Jones de Almeida

I've been watching our office manager, Fernando, put long hours into his job. He's dedicated to fulfilling his daily responsibilities and he gets the tasks done. And that's what he keeps it to. One time Fernando said, "This is just my job. I do my work when I leave this office." When Fernando leaves his job, he starts working with his people. He's been an active person in various grassroots groups and gatherings in Humboldt County. He's currently developing an organization and writing an article on the the "Non-profit Industrial Complex." The concepts of the Non-profit Industrial Complex can be found in the book, The Revolution Will Not Be Funded. The book combines various articles and it examines how the Non-profit Industrial Complex, as a whole (political agendas and legal systems), constrains and even undermines work for radical social change. UTNE magazine posted some of the articles and wrote a short review. Click here to read more on UTNE's report.


Learning about the Non-profit Industrial Complex opened my eyes to something new. Most of my work experiences have been in non-profit organizations. My personal wants and desires to be an active mentor and community member in the lives of youth drove me to these organizations. From experiences in these organizations and agencies, I was shocked by some of the decisions my superiors made, the policies that formed the decisions and how a trickle down effect impacted the overall organization/agency culture.Understanding the depths of an agency has become an important lesson for me and there are various theories that can be applied to such analysis. The following 3 theories helped me understand the experiences I had in these organizations/agencies.
1.)Human relation theories- This theory focuses on the interpersonal relationships that occur in the work environments. Human relation theories emphasize that a positive work environment (worker satisfaction, morale, etc.) will lead to more productivity (Kirst-Ashman,2008).
2.)Cultural Perspective-Theory rooted in cultural perspectives will go on to say that values, beliefs and assumptions and expectations emerge from the relationships in an organization. Organization/agency culture forms. And, it's the culture that creates different habits in the agency. (Kirst-Ashman, 2008).
3.)Economics- Economics theory,focuses on profit and productivity and it evaluates how an organization can be the most efficient and cost effective.

So...let me take this through 1-3. I understand the power of relationships in the work place. I also understand that we all have different gifts and callings that brought us to our work environments, and because of this we take on different roles. So, it makes sense that we're going to disagree with one another, and chose to fight different battles here and there. However, I haven't seen a lot of battles fought in my time. It seems like getting along and feeling good in the work environment has become some happy drug taking behavior that soothes some of our worries. Maybe a temporary fix to the bigger problems that some of us feel in our work environments. I've noticed (in myself and heard from others) we never chose to fight, because we're hesitant stirring the pot. I've silenced myself in meetings and casual conversations, because some of my thoughts on the work culture can potentially stir the pot and contaminate the positive work environment. By doing so, I'm only contributing to the status quo (The Status Quo comes from Kurt Lewin's Field Theory, 1951). But that's okay, because everything is all good and I'm still fulfilling my purpose and I'm staying productive. Right? Well, I think wrong, because I'm only contributing to some system, driven by funding, which leads to a culture of productivity. I didn't sign up for social work to be productive. I signed up to be with people and that conflicts with this new system that I work in, The Non-profit Industrial Complex. And the Non-profit Industrial Complex exists, as this was seen in my Social Work Community Practice course, when we use Lewin's Forced Field Analysis and we discovered that funding was a major driving and restraining force in the analysis. So what do we do as social workers to create changes so we can still have job that the works WITH people?

Here's my belief. Northern California Social Workers, let's run to the hills and make it happen. But really, I think we can keep on moving and working with our callings in this field. I truly hope that we can continue to fight our personal battles and build new relationships (inner organizations, outer agencies and politically) that truly works WITH people so we can continue working WITH the people. So, I hope we don't take it personally, when that passionate person steps up to challenge conventional thought and ways, because they just might be fighting for us.

Here's a video related on this subject. It reminded me that I'm only a passive viewer, if I sit back and don't do anything.