Create Accountability / Conflict Resolution / Transformative Justice / Interventions Structures

Support Network Mission Circle
1
As we grow, we'll need to create clear accountability / conflict resolution / transformative justice structures. These structures are what allow us to act on principle and have both autonomy and unity.

Frameworks

Accountability and Interventions

“Accountability is the ability to recognize, end and take responsibility for violence. Community accountability also means that communities are accountable to sometimes ignoring, minimizing or even encouraging violence. Communities must also recognize, end and take responsibility for violence by becoming more knowledgeable, skillful and willing to take action to intervene in violence and to support social norms and conditions that prevent violence from happening in the first place.”
—Creative Interventions Toolkit, Section 4F Page 2

Accountability and Momentum Movement
Accountability is the guardrails that keep us acting on principle / according to our DNA.

Accountability and the Commons
It’s beneficial to think of YPC resources as the commons, whether that’s people’s time, money, material resources, etc.

  1. Commons need to have clearly defined boundaries. In particular, who is entitled to access to what? Unless there’s a specified community of benefit, it becomes a free for all, and that’s not how commons work.

  2. Commons must be monitored. Once rules have been set, communities need a way of checking that people are keeping them. Commons don’t run on good will, but on accountability.

  3. Sanctions for those who abuse the commons should be graduated. Ostrom observed that the commons that worked best didn’t just ban people who broke the rules. That tended to create resentment. Instead, they had systems of warnings and fines, as well as informal reputational consequences in the community.

  4. Conflict resolution should be easily accessible. When issues come up, resolving them should be informal, cheap and straightforward. That means that anyone can take their problems for mediation, and nobody is shut out. Problems are solved rather than ignoring them because nobody wants to pay legal > fees.

Strategies

Transformative Justice
Restorative Justice
Trauma-Informed Non-Violent Communication

Exemplars

Structures

Mutual Aid NYC

  • Has a dedicated accountability team
  • Is referred to as a resource at the beginning of every meeting: “Email accountability@mutualaid.nyc to get support navigating conflicts between people, between MANYC teams, or between MANYC and partners. Read our Guiding Principles at Mutual Aid NYC Guiding Principles – Mutual Aid NYC”
  • Does both proactive work to prevent harm and reactive work in response to harm

Training

Sunrise Movement

Resources

Potential Partners