1 Political Values Worksheet This political values clarification tool will hopefully be useful for a wide range of folks, from those new to political action to veteran activists who might be feeling overwhelmed or unfocused. Take what you think will be helpful from each section and feel free to ignore anything that feels unnecessary or redundant. Envisioning the Good Life Before digging into the nitty gritty, take some time to reflect on the kind of world that you want to live in? What are the qualities of that society, of the people in that society? How do people treat each other? What does justice look like? How is power distributed? While it is important for us to speak out and be clear about what we reject from the current administration, it is equally, if not more important, to be able to identify what we stand for – to have a vision of the world we hope to build. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ What are some of the obstacles that get in the way of this kind of world? _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Resisting the Bad Life Now let’s shift gears to evaluate our current situation and how we’re embedded in it. To start brainstorming the various possibilities for involvement in political action, take some time to reflect on the following questions: 

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What are some of the issues that we’re facing right now that you’re most concerned about? Since there are likely to an absurdly large number of issues you’re concerned about, don’t try to make an exhaustive list, but instead identify the ones that are the most compelling or distressing to you (e.g. environment, the justice system, education, etc.). After identifying causes, rate the importance of each issue on a scale from 1 – 10 (1 being the least important, 10 being the most important). It is possible that every issue you identify is a 10. After rating importance, now rank them. This will likely be a difficult process since they are all important– unfortunately, if we don’t deliberately prioritize some issues over others, we risk being unfocused and ineffective in our efforts. o Are there any issues that have a more direct, material impact on your life? o Remember that we can keep abreast of other issues, especially as they relate to the ones we’ve identified as our priorities. And we can also be flexible and shift our efforts

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as it feels right to do so. Finally, while we can’t do everything, we can network and try to support others who have taken on other causes when they make calls to action. If you prefer, you can wait to do the ranking after completing the subsequent section about strengths, vulnerabilities, and resources.

Issue

Importance

Rank

Identifying Strengths, Vulnerabilities, and Resources In order to better hone in on the work you want to commit to, it can be helpful to take inventory of your strengths, weaknesses, and resources. Strengths  

Are there any issues which you already have a more in depth understanding? What skillsets do you bring to the table that might be valuable? These can be very wide ranging! With all that needs to be done, we need all sorts of people and skills, such as: education, child care, cooking, organization (of people, systems, spaces, etc.), technological skills, legal, defense/security, counseling, medical, artistic, research, writing, theatrical, networking, programming, familiarity with policy, etc. If you don’t consider yourself an expert in any of these things, that’s fine! Are there some skills you want to improve?

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Are there certain personal circumstances that might make engaging with certain issues more difficult or dangerous than others (e.g. mental health, immigration status, marginalized identities, sources of conflict with family members, etc.)? It’s important to consider our vulnerabilities (and our loved ones’ who might be effected), as you are much more valuable to the cause if you are alive and well (or at least well-ish). Are there certain things you’re unwilling to do?

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Are there any other resources that you can rely on to help your work? Do you have some close friends who are already invested in a certain cause? Are there local groups you’re aware of that seem active and inclusive? Do you have access to certain material resources that might facilitate your work?

_____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Narrowing Your Focus Now that you have identified and ranked the issues you care about, and have taken inventory of some of your strengths/vulnerabilities/resources - try to determine how many of these causes you can feasibly take on. I would suggest 1 to 3 issues to attempt to dive into in varying degrees of depth - depending on your capacity. Keep in mind that you can be flexible and change things up if a prompt further down the line influences your priorities. __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ Clarifying Values 

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Among the issues you’ve identified and prioritized, what are the values that you care about in those challenges? For example, if you have identified refugees’ rights as one of your issues, perhaps compassion is the predominant value for you (it might be for all of them!). Or if you’re concerned about the environment, perhaps conservation or respect for life are some fitting values. If police brutality is an issue, perhaps justice is a leading value. Each issue can have multiple values. If you’re struggling to identify the political values that you want to guide your actions, it can be helpful to identify and sit with the emotions that come up for you when you think about the issues.

Issue

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4 Now that you’ve narrowed down your focus and identified some core values, take some time to let those sink in and reflect on how these values might manifest in the work itself. 

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Consider what these values look like in our interactions with one another, how they might shape the interventions we engage in, how directly they might serve the populations most impacted by these issues, etc. Consider what it might look like if we violate these values or how we might know when we’re straying from them.

After taking some time to engage with these questions, do some research and see what’s already happening. See if there are already projects or people working on these causes, and how you might be able to contribute. If you’re already involved in projects, perhaps take some time to reflect on how having a clearer sense of your values might energize your work, influence your goals, or influence how you approach your work.

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