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Movements that Win

Patterns of Resistance, Ecologies of Struggle

Author Aric McBay
Paperback
$17.95 US
Seven Stories Press
5-1/2"W x 8-1/4"H | 13 oz | 24 per carton
On sale Dec 02, 2025 | 256 Pages | 9781644215081
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An inspiring collection of stories about brave people who organize, fight back, and prevail against corporate greed and government injustice, to learn from the tactics of how they won.

Includes illustrations and graphics.

As the world slides further toward authoritarianism and the prospects for advancing social justice through electoral democracy narrow, the power of communities to prevail against strongman politics and corporate domination becomes increasingly crucial. In Movements That Win, long-time activist Aric McBay urges readers to remain hopeful, connected, vocal, and strong. He champions the creative innovations, bravery, and persistence of those who take risks to organize their communities to confront injustices imposed on them in the name of greed, militarism, and racism.

Building on the analysis presented in his two-volume set, Full Spectrum Resistance, McBay showcases a wide range of attainable victories that—wins we can and should emulate through solidarity and direct action. Among the triumphs McBay describes are

  • Indigenous groups’ successful effort to shut down a pipeline and remove colonial statues,
  • neighborhoods repelling gentrification and a nuclear waste dump in Australia,
  • residents halting the construction of a parking garage in Boston’s Chinatown,
  • American disability rights activists’ use of direct action to pave the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act, farmers preventing the construction of a nuclear reactor in rural Germany,
  • and multiple neighborhood networks in the US preventing Wal-Mart from setting up shop in their community.

Along the way, McBay provides boots-on-the-ground insights into the key factors that inspire people to join local movements, how to persevere during backlash and repression, and how to build momentum through small victories.
ARIC MCBAY is a community organizer, organic farmer, and author of eight books, including the speculative fiction novels Kraken Calling and Inversion. His book Full Spectrum Resistance is a two-volume guide to building more effective movements. He writes and speaks on numerous social justice issues and has organized successful campaigns around fossil-fuel pipelines, Indigenous solidarity, unionization, prisoner justice, and other causes. He is also an award-winning digital game developer. You can find his work at www.aricmcbay.org.
Aric McBay View titles by Aric McBay
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Introduction
Shut Down Canada
Canada: Shut Down
“Claim No Easy Victories”
Graves and Statues
Revolution of the Heart
Why Study Victories?
Why these Stories?
Patterns of Resistance, Ecologies of Struggle
A Gentle Warning
My Hopes
Stories in this Book


One: The Green Bans
Background
The Green Bans Multiply
Why the Builders Labourers’ Federation?
Repression
The Legacy
How to Build a Strong Alliance
Black Bans and International Solidarity
Sidebar: Green Bans and Green Parties


Two: Parcel C
The Campaign and Coalition
The Referendum
After the Referendum
Victory and Aftermath
Movement-Building and Intersectionality
Chronology of Parcel C


Three: 504 Disability Sit-ins
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The Sit-Ins
A Powerful Full-Spectrum Coalition
Logistics and Communication
Organization and Decision-Making
Further Escalation
What Next?
Victory Factors


Four: Brent Spar
Background
The Seizing of the Spar
The Boycott
The Strike Force
Why They Won


Five: Spies for Peace & the Committee of 100
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Committee of 100
The Bunker Heist
Victories and Legacy
Comparing Capacities


Six: Wyhl Reactor Site Occupation
The Occupation
Victory Factors and the Aftermath


Seven: Standing Strong gainst Nuclear Waste
Nuclear Weapons on Indigenous Land
Uranium Power Grows
The South Australia Nuclear Waste Dump
Victory
Sidebar: Hotelling’s Law
Sidebar: 1984 Day of Action for a Nuclear-Free Australia


Eight: Umbergaon Port
The Megaport
Why They Won


Nine: Phantom Victories, Pipelines, and Gas Plants
Line 9
Energy East
Line 9 and Energy East
Doug Ford’s Gas Plants


Ten: The Richmond Dump
Getting Organized
Escalation
The Mohawks and the Quarry
Victory Factors
Movement Capacities
Chronology of Events


Eleven: Anti-Walmart Site Fights & Alt-Union Campaign
The Site Fights
Community Impacts
How Did They Win?
The Legacy of Site Fights
The Alt-Union Struggle Begins
OUR Walmart
Union Wins in Chile
The Foothold and the Beachhead


Conclusion: Patterns of Resistance
1) A Tangible Common Goal
2) Positive Vision
3) Urgency
4) A Common Enemy
5) Initiative & Escalation
6) Disruption & Direct Action
7) A Common Tactic & Collective Action
8) Diversity of Tactics & Radical Flanking
9) Coalitions across Difference
10) Movement Capacity
11) Participatory Decision-Making and Democracy
12) Persistence & Endurance
The End of the Beginning
Discussion Questions
Further Victories
Endnotes
Index
About the Author

About

An inspiring collection of stories about brave people who organize, fight back, and prevail against corporate greed and government injustice, to learn from the tactics of how they won.

Includes illustrations and graphics.

As the world slides further toward authoritarianism and the prospects for advancing social justice through electoral democracy narrow, the power of communities to prevail against strongman politics and corporate domination becomes increasingly crucial. In Movements That Win, long-time activist Aric McBay urges readers to remain hopeful, connected, vocal, and strong. He champions the creative innovations, bravery, and persistence of those who take risks to organize their communities to confront injustices imposed on them in the name of greed, militarism, and racism.

Building on the analysis presented in his two-volume set, Full Spectrum Resistance, McBay showcases a wide range of attainable victories that—wins we can and should emulate through solidarity and direct action. Among the triumphs McBay describes are

  • Indigenous groups’ successful effort to shut down a pipeline and remove colonial statues,
  • neighborhoods repelling gentrification and a nuclear waste dump in Australia,
  • residents halting the construction of a parking garage in Boston’s Chinatown,
  • American disability rights activists’ use of direct action to pave the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act, farmers preventing the construction of a nuclear reactor in rural Germany,
  • and multiple neighborhood networks in the US preventing Wal-Mart from setting up shop in their community.

Along the way, McBay provides boots-on-the-ground insights into the key factors that inspire people to join local movements, how to persevere during backlash and repression, and how to build momentum through small victories.

Creators

ARIC MCBAY is a community organizer, organic farmer, and author of eight books, including the speculative fiction novels Kraken Calling and Inversion. His book Full Spectrum Resistance is a two-volume guide to building more effective movements. He writes and speaks on numerous social justice issues and has organized successful campaigns around fossil-fuel pipelines, Indigenous solidarity, unionization, prisoner justice, and other causes. He is also an award-winning digital game developer. You can find his work at www.aricmcbay.org.
Aric McBay View titles by Aric McBay

Table of Contents

Introduction
Shut Down Canada
Canada: Shut Down
“Claim No Easy Victories”
Graves and Statues
Revolution of the Heart
Why Study Victories?
Why these Stories?
Patterns of Resistance, Ecologies of Struggle
A Gentle Warning
My Hopes
Stories in this Book


One: The Green Bans
Background
The Green Bans Multiply
Why the Builders Labourers’ Federation?
Repression
The Legacy
How to Build a Strong Alliance
Black Bans and International Solidarity
Sidebar: Green Bans and Green Parties


Two: Parcel C
The Campaign and Coalition
The Referendum
After the Referendum
Victory and Aftermath
Movement-Building and Intersectionality
Chronology of Parcel C


Three: 504 Disability Sit-ins
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The Sit-Ins
A Powerful Full-Spectrum Coalition
Logistics and Communication
Organization and Decision-Making
Further Escalation
What Next?
Victory Factors


Four: Brent Spar
Background
The Seizing of the Spar
The Boycott
The Strike Force
Why They Won


Five: Spies for Peace & the Committee of 100
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Committee of 100
The Bunker Heist
Victories and Legacy
Comparing Capacities


Six: Wyhl Reactor Site Occupation
The Occupation
Victory Factors and the Aftermath


Seven: Standing Strong gainst Nuclear Waste
Nuclear Weapons on Indigenous Land
Uranium Power Grows
The South Australia Nuclear Waste Dump
Victory
Sidebar: Hotelling’s Law
Sidebar: 1984 Day of Action for a Nuclear-Free Australia


Eight: Umbergaon Port
The Megaport
Why They Won


Nine: Phantom Victories, Pipelines, and Gas Plants
Line 9
Energy East
Line 9 and Energy East
Doug Ford’s Gas Plants


Ten: The Richmond Dump
Getting Organized
Escalation
The Mohawks and the Quarry
Victory Factors
Movement Capacities
Chronology of Events


Eleven: Anti-Walmart Site Fights & Alt-Union Campaign
The Site Fights
Community Impacts
How Did They Win?
The Legacy of Site Fights
The Alt-Union Struggle Begins
OUR Walmart
Union Wins in Chile
The Foothold and the Beachhead


Conclusion: Patterns of Resistance
1) A Tangible Common Goal
2) Positive Vision
3) Urgency
4) A Common Enemy
5) Initiative & Escalation
6) Disruption & Direct Action
7) A Common Tactic & Collective Action
8) Diversity of Tactics & Radical Flanking
9) Coalitions across Difference
10) Movement Capacity
11) Participatory Decision-Making and Democracy
12) Persistence & Endurance
The End of the Beginning
Discussion Questions
Further Victories
Endnotes
Index
About the Author

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