It’s not always easy or straightforward to know how to quantify the success of a movement. Our podcast guest Hardy Merriman shared that there are two main ways scholars do so. One way is to look at was the direct goal set--for ex, did the policy get changed? Another way is to look atthe collateral effects of the movement--to recognize that the policy may not get changed right away BUT the stage was set for future change by building skills and bringing people into community who may not otherwise have worked together.
It’s valuable to look at both “Did the movement achieve what they said they wanted to achieve AND what is the accumulated impact of the movement even beyond its stated goal, since we know that meaningful change doesn’t happen easily or overnight
