Ethics and Responsibility in Community Organizing

Reflection on Action Document

Nina Gregg, février 2013

This Reflection in Action Document (RAD) offers some limited historical context for understanding social justice organizing in Colombia and the US and summarizes the thinking of action research project participants about the concept of responsibility.

Ethics and Responsibility in Organizing (E&RO) began as an action research project launched at the first US Social Forum in June 2010 by Nina Gregg in the US and at the same time by Diego Escobar in Colombia. The project was part of the international Forum on Ethics and Responsibility (www.ethica-respons.net), supported by the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind. This Reflection in Action Document (RAD) offers some limited historical context for understanding social justice organizing in Colombia and the US and summarizes the thinking of action research project participants about the concept of responsibility, its role in organizing, and the potential value of legislative and statutory regulations for ensuring responsible institutions and governments. The RAD concludes with examples of activities initiated by participants after the conclusion of the action research project.