Sunrise’s successes owe much to the theories underpinning our strategy and methods, and our failures reveal much about where these theories fall short. I hope these essays not only illuminate our specific choices and why we made them, but demonstrate how the theoretical concepts on which we build our organizations actually shape their development.

Part 2 will look at Sunrise’s methods of organizing. Part 1 of this essay, which you are reading now, focuses on Sunrise’s strategy, including our demands, rhetoric, and relation to the US party system. As ever, I write with deep appreciation for all the climate justice fighters who find a place to place their hope amidst the looming dread of this crisis. You can consider just about every word of this essay as a self-critique and a practice of learning in public. My aim is to offer a detailed account of Sunrise’s aims and influences, in order that the next generation of strategist-organizers both inside and outside Sunrise may learn from what we did well, while overcoming our limitations. Early Sunrise leaders-of which I am one-are in the process of moving on, and handing over leadership of this youth organization to a more youthful cohort.Īs a leader in Sunrise’s development from its founding in 2017 through early 2021, I feel obliged to offer an evaluation of our strategy and methods. A new generation of leaders is taking account of Sunrise’s successes and failures, and working to design the next life of the movement. Today, a private and public reckoning is well underway. The underwhelming first year of that administration has left us floundering. Shortly after, the revenge of the Democratic establishment and the COVID pandemic halted all momentum and put Sunrise into a rear-guard attempt to salvage what could be won in a Biden administration. Bernie Sanders’ February 2020 victory in the Nevada caucus. Left organizations to emerge in the last five years, reflects trends in the broader Left. The state of Sunrise Movement, one of the more successful and visible U.S.

Sunrise movement