A new report by Tectonica Organising Network, The State of Digital Organising in Europe 2020, released on October 28 in partnership with GQR, reveals that digital organising done by progressive organisations in Europe is being overshadowed by efforts of the right, driven primarily by a lack of education, hard skills, funding, and resources for effective digital organising.
The report is primarily based on a first-of-its-kind GQR survey of 150 respondents from progressive civil society organisations and political parties across Europe. Fieldwork was conducted online between August 24 and September 14. The survey was designed and analyzed by GQR Analyst Rebecca Yuska, GQR Project Associate Thea Barnes, and GQR Vice President Jonathan Moakes.
GQR’s research reveals that 43% of survey respondents feel the far right and populists are running stronger digital campaigns than progressives, compared to 33% who feel progressives are stronger in this area. These sentiments are in part driven by the success of the right, but also by progressive organisations underperforming on digital organising.
This is reflected in the difference between what progressives value in digital organising campaigns, compared with what they do in practice. While 82% of respondents say a successful campaign should have supporters managing their own advocacy actions, only a third (34%) of campaigns do this in practice. Similarly, 79% say successful campaigns should have supporters organising their own actions via digital tools, while only 37% practice this. Most digital organising efforts center on information sharing – a relatively low value practice for respondents – like newsletters or website building.
In its report, Tectonica argues that progressive organisations must employ a range of digital organising strategies – ranging from broadcast communications to fully decentralised organising – in order to build power and win against the right.
For more on the Tectonica/GQR study and survey:
- The full Tectonica report can be found HERE.
- Data tables for the poll are available for download HERE.
- GQR’s additional report on the survey findings can be found HERE.
For more information, contact GQR Analyst Rebecca Yuska, at ryuska@gqrr.com or info@gqrr.com.