Draft:Collective liberation

"Collective liberation" is a political and organizing framework grounded in the belief that all systems of oppression are interconnected and that no group can achieve freedom in isolation. It asserts that liberation must be pursued in solidarity across lines of race, class, gender, ability, sexuality, and nationality. The concept is widely used in social justice movements, particularly in anti-racist, feminist, environmental, and decolonial organizing.

The concept of "collective liberation" is deeply rooted in the pedagogical theories of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. In "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" (1970), Freire emphasized that true liberation is a mutual process between the oppressed and the oppressor, facilitated by critical consciousness ("conscientização") and dialogical education. While Freire did not use the term "collective liberation" explicitly, his work laid the intellectual foundation for the concept.

The phrase began appearing in activist literature in the early 2000s, particularly in U.S.-based anti-globalization and anarchist organizing spaces. Groups such as the Direct Action Network and People's Global Action promoted decentralized organizing rooted in solidarity and intersectionality, mirroring the principles of collective liberation.

Principles

The core tenets of collective liberation include:

• Interdependence: No one is free until everyone is free.
• Intersectionality: Oppression is multidimensional and must be addressed holistically.
• Centering the most impacted: Movements should be led by those most affected.
• Solidarity and mutual accountability: Liberation must involve risk-sharing and power redistribution.
• Transformative vision: Liberation is not about reform alone but building new, just systems.

Movement Adoption (2000–Present): Evolution of a Concept Across Movements

Collective liberation from 2000 to the present evolved from a rallying phrase in radical activist communities to a widely adopted framework uniting multiple movements. Its usage over time tracks an increasingly intersectional approach to social justice – one that recognizes that anti-racism, feminism, decolonization, climate action, and abolition are inseparable in the pursuit of a world where *“we can all be who we are… and all live, rest, and thrive”* free from oppression. Each era and movement has added new context to the term, but at its core, *collective liberation* consistently means that our fates are linked and that only through collective, not isolated, emancipation can we achieve lasting freedom.

Academic Literature (Books & Journals)

In the 2000s, academic references to *collective liberation* were sparse and often grounded in activist writing. By the 2020s, the term gained traction in scholarly discourse, reflecting its broader acceptance as an analytical concept for interconnected freedom struggles.

• 2008: *Information and Liberation* by Shiraz Durrani offers an early definition of *collective liberation* as “the undoing of the effects and the elimination of the causes of social oppression” – a process of unlearning oppressive attitudes and dismantling institutional power structures. This framing treats liberation as a collective, structural project rather than individual change.

• 2013: Activist-scholar Chris Crass publishes *Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy*. This collection of essays (drawn from two decades of activism) explores how to build “effective movements for visionary systemic change” through an intersectional lens. Crass highlights lessons from anarchist, feminist, and anti-racist struggles, arguing that divisions of race, class, and gender must be transformed into “catalysts” for broad-based movements in the U.S.. His work helped legitimize *collective liberation* as a theoretical framework linking anti-racist and feminist practice in movement-building.

• 2024: Legal scholarship explicitly adopts *collective liberation* as a lens. In a Michigan Law Review article, Yvette Butler critiques incremental feminism and instead calls for “Collective Liberation” – defined as a vision of justice that rejects zero-sum thinking and acknowledges “the interconnectedness of struggles against subordination.” Butler argues this approach strives for truly transformative change, rather than merely shifting “scraps of rights” between groups. This marks an evolution from earlier academic silence to open endorsement of *collective liberation* as a guiding principle in constitutional and social theory.

Activist Publications & Movement Organizations

Over two decades, activist usage of *“collective liberation”* broadened from niche radical circles to the core rhetoric of major movements. Early 2000s anarchist and anti-racist organizers used the term to link struggles; by the 2010s, organizations from SURJ to BLM to climate justice alliances adopted it to express an ethos of interdependence: that feminism, anti-racism, decolonization, climate justice, and abolition are ultimately part of one liberatory project. The term also traveled across movements – for example, from racial justice into climate activism – reflecting an increasingly intersectional approach to social change.

• 2001: Long-time organizer Chris Crass releases *Collective Liberation on My Mind*, a pamphlet of essays (AK Press/Kersplebedeb). It bridges anarchist theory with analyses of race, class, and gender oppression. Crass argues that white supremacy and patriarchy weaken social movements from within, and that only by confronting these internally can movements achieve the “unity needed” for true liberation. This early usage frames *collective liberation* as the idea that all systems of oppression are linked and must be challenged together for “another world” to be possible.

• 2003: Veteran activists took note of this framework. Elizabeth “Betita” Martínez, reviewing Crass’s work, praised its fusion of anti-racist and feminist insight, noting his commitment to dealing equally with race and gender – “interlocking issues” often neglected by young white male activists. Such commentary in movement journals (Left Turn, Clamor) helped spread the phrase *collective liberation* in early 2000s activist circles, especially those emerging from the anti-globalization and anti-war movements.

• 2009: The Catalyst Project – which began in 2000 out of the Challenging White Supremacy workshops – explicitly centers *collective liberation* in its mission. Catalyst develops white anti-racist leadership *“to support multiracial movements for collective liberation.”* This phrasing, used in Catalyst’s training programs and publications, reflects a growing commitment in activist networks to link anti-racism with overarching collective freedom. Similarly, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), founded in 2009, was guided by the principle that “none of us can be free until we end white supremacy,” i.e. that racism harms everyone and ending it is integral to collective liberation.

• 2016: Local chapters of SURJ and other groups made the rhetoric explicit. For example, SURJ Kansas City’s Points of Unity state, *“racism affects all of us, and so we organize for our collective liberation.”* Here *collective liberation* is defined in practice: white people are called to anti-racist work both out of accountability to people of color and out of shared interest, since “our” liberation is intertwined. This reflects a notable shift from seeing allyship as charity toward seeing it as mutual emancipation. Around the same time, the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) policy platform (2016) opened with a vision of Black struggle as a path toward *collective liberation*. The updated 2020 M4BL Preamble declares: *“We have created this platform to articulate and support the ambitions and work of Black people toward our collective liberation.”* It emphasizes that true freedom for Black communities will benefit everyone – “collective liberation will be a product of all of our work” – explicitly inviting allies into a shared fight for justice.

• Late 2010s: The term expands into environmental and climate justice organizing. Movement Generation (Justice & Ecology Project), a collective founded in 2007, integrates *collective liberation* into its programs linking ecology, economy, and racial justice. Movement Generation promotes Resilience-Based Organizing, whose “core ingredients” include communities asserting *“the righteousness of collective liberation against elite oligarchies of power.”* In practice, this means uplifting frontline communities to lead a Just Transition away from extractive systems toward ones that care for people and planet. By framing environmental action as part of collective liberation, climate justice groups in the late 2010s connected ecological well-being with freeing all people from oppression.

• 2021: Abolitionist organizers explicitly invoke *collective liberation* as well. Mariame Kaba, a leader in the prison abolition movement, describes her work as “a vision for collective liberation” – the idea that abolishing the prison-industrial complex is essential to freeing everyone from systems of violence. In her 2021 book *We Do This ’Til We Free Us*, Kaba insists that *“our collective liberation”* is only possible through dismantling punitive institutions that harm Black and brown communities, and by building new systems of care. This illustrates how the phrase had permeated abolitionist and transformative justice movements: freedom is not piecemeal but all-encompassing.

Media (Op-Eds, Journalism & Commentary)

Media references to *collective liberation* grew more frequent and expansive over time. Early mentions (circa 2010–2014) appeared mainly in discussions of racial history and civil rights. By the 2020s, the phrase was regularly used in op-eds and movement commentary to connect issues – from climate change and Indigenous sovereignty to gender justice and public health – under a common vision. This media exposure helped normalize the idea that “no one is free until everyone is free,” translating activist language for wider public consumption.

• 2014 (Mainstream Media): The idea of collective liberation entered popular discourse through commentary on current events. In a Washington Post column on America’s reckoning with slavery, journalist Eugene Robinson wrote that confronting historical truths was *“a significant step toward our collective liberation.”* Here, *collective liberation* was framed in a racial context – suggesting that honestly facing slavery’s legacy would free not only African Americans but everyone in society from the weight of denial. This usage in a major newspaper signaled that the concept of linked fate and shared freedom was reaching a broader audience, even if not yet a household term.

• 2020 (Movement Commentary): Amid the global George Floyd protests, analysts described the Black Lives Matter upsurge explicitly in collective liberation terms. For instance, a piece in the University of Notre Dame’s *Peace Policy* journal noted that the BLM movement targets structures (not individuals) and rejects zero-sum framing: *“The main target of activism is the structure of white supremacy… This new paradigm suggests Black gains do not equal White losses… Black Lives Matter is a people’s movement centered on collective liberation.”* It argued that dismantling systems harming Black people is *“the path to a collective liberation where everyone has a stake.”* Such commentary, often echoed in op-eds and activist essays, helped clarify the term for general audiences during the 2020 racial justice protests – underscoring that ending anti-Black racism benefits society at large.

• 2021 (Independent Media): As intersectional activism grew, *collective liberation* appeared in first-person narratives and independent outlets. In *The Washington Post’s* “The Lily” section, environmental activist Freweyni Asress recounted how the mainstream zero-waste lifestyle movement felt exclusionary: *“Zero waste wasn’t an entryway to a political home working toward collective liberation. Rather, it was just another way to enforce white supremacist, colonial practices on sustainability.”* Her critique, published in July 2021, uses *collective liberation* as a benchmark for true inclusivity – suggesting that a sustainable movement must also confront racism and colonialism to liberate all people. This reflects a wider media trend: activists writing op-eds or essays increasingly invoke *collective liberation* to evaluate whether a given movement or policy truly serves everyone.

• 2023 (Movement Media): In the wake of intersecting global crises, media continued to link disparate struggles under the banner of collective liberation. For example, climate journalist Amy Westervelt’s Drilled podcast featured designer-activist Celine Semaan, who argued the climate movement must also demand justice in other arenas (such as calls for a Gaza ceasefire), *“push\[ing] for climate justice and collective liberation”* in tandem. And in independent magazines, the term framed broad solidarity: a 2024 *Briarpatch* editorial noted that recent surges in Indigenous land defense and Black Lives Matter activism have built on each other, “each one incrementally building upon our understanding of safety, solidarity, and collective liberation”. By highlighting multiracial coalitions and care networks, the article paints *collective liberation* as both the goal and the process of contemporary resistance.

Speeches, Interviews & Movement Messaging

Movement rhetoric from 2000 to 2025 shows *collective liberation* evolving from an internal organizing principle to an outward-facing call to action. Early 2000s mentions appeared in small activist gatherings and publications. By the 2020s, major movement figures wove the phrase into speeches, and it was used to inspire broad audiences (“our liberation is intertwined”). Notably, the scope of issues invoked under *collective liberation* broadened over time – whereas two decades ago it often referred to linking racism and sexism, by 2025 it commonly encompasses anti-colonial, climate, economic, and disability justice as well. What remained constant is the core message: true liberation is mutual and universal, requiring solidarity across all lines of difference.

• 2013: As the term gained traction, prominent activists began using *collective liberation* in speeches and interviews. Chris Crass, during talks on his book tour for *Towards Collective Liberation*, emphasized that movements must practice intersectional solidarity in leadership. He often invoked the lineage of freedom fighters (from civil rights to women of color feminism) to illustrate that *collective liberation* means drawing lessons from all these struggles to “build the grassroots, multi-racial, feminist movements for justice we need”. His messaging underscored that collective liberation is both a historical project and a present strategy – a theme that resonated in activist trainings and panels through the mid-2010s.

• Mid-2010s: Leaders in the Movement for Black Lives began to explicitly tie Black liberation to collective liberation in public addresses. For example, Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza frequently stressed that *“when Black people get free, everybody gets free,”* a phrasing echoing the concept (though not using the exact term “collective liberation”). This sentiment was formalized in movement materials (as noted above in the M4BL platform) and echoed at rallies. BLM organizers framed their demands – from police abolition to economic justice – as steps toward freeing all oppressed people. This *collective* framing distinguished the 2010s racial justice discourse from earlier eras by inviting multi-issue collaboration. As one Black Lives Matter DC document put it, *“collective liberation by collective action”* is the theory of change, linking interracial solidarity with concrete social transformation.

• 2020: During the massive protests and political campaigns of 2020, the language of *collective liberation* featured in speeches from a range of movements. At protests for Black lives, speakers led chants that “None of us are free, none of us are free, until all of us are free,” directly invoking the shared liberation idea. In the electoral arena, some progressive politicians and campaigners (inspired by movement rhetoric) adopted the term as well. For instance, the Movement for Black Lives Electoral Justice campaign and groups like Showing Up for Racial Justice used slogans about voting or organizing “for collective liberation,” signaling an attempt to bring this activist concept into broader political conversations.

• 2021: Abolitionist voices brought *collective liberation* to the forefront in public dialogues. In interviews surrounding her book release, Mariame Kaba explained that abolition is not just about tearing down prisons, but about imagining new systems that care for everyone: *“a vision of freedom and safety that is about our collective liberation”* (as she often phrased it). Kaba and others (like Angela Davis) in public webinars and teach-ins drew connections between abolishing police/prisons and freeing all communities from violence, reinforcing how the term anchors the abolition movement’s inclusive ethos.

• 2023: The rhetoric reached new audiences in settings like commencement speeches and climate rallies. In May 2023, Colette Pichon Battle, a climate justice leader, delivered a commencement address at Kenyon College explicitly urging graduates to see the climate crisis as an opportunity to *“manifest our collective liberation.”* She invited them to become “future leaders of our collective liberation… creating a future where we can all live, rest and thrive”. By tying the fight against climate change to the fight against racism, colonialism, and inequality, her speech exemplified how *collective liberation* had become a unifying narrative across causes. Similarly, inter-movement campaigns – for example, solidarity actions linking Black liberation, Indigenous land rights, Palestinian freedom, and climate action – increasingly used the term in rally cries and social media (e.g. hashtags like #CollectiveLiberation) to articulate a shared horizon for diverse struggles.

Notable Shifts Over Time

• Broader Issue Areas: Initially rooted in anti-racist and feminist organizing, *“collective liberation”* grew to include many movements. By the 2010s, climate justice and abolitionist activists had fully embraced the term, signaling an expanded understanding that environmental and carceral oppression are part of the same web of domination. This expansion is evident in sources ranging from Movement Generation’s ecology work to Mariame Kaba’s abolitionist vision.

• From Margin to Mainstream: Once a radical-left catchphrase, *collective liberation* gradually entered mainstream awareness. Activists like Chris Crass and Black liberationists introduced the concept in the 2000s, and by the 2020s even establishment outlets and academia discussed it. For example, a Washington Post columnist’s use of the term in 2014 and a law review’s theoretical treatment in 2024 show how the language migrated into conventional discourse, often translated as the idea that injustices are interconnected and must be addressed collectively.

• Emphasis on Interdependence: Over time, the phrase has been used to explicitly counter zero-sum or exclusionary thinking. In earlier years, the focus was on coalition-building among progressives. In later years, it also became a rejoinder to rising white nationalism and patriarchy – a way to assert that *everyone* (including those who might be privileged in one system) benefits from the dismantling of oppression. The SURJ principle that white people have a “shared interest” in ending racism for our collective good exemplifies this shift to highlighting mutual interest rather than just moral obligation.

• Depth of Definition: The meaning of *collective liberation* has deepened. Early usages implied *“no one is free until all are free,”* but often in general terms. Newer references provide concrete dimensions – e.g. Durrani’s focus on unlearning behaviors, or Butler’s call for transformative (not token) justice. Activists have also articulated the *“collective”* aspect more vividly, stressing community care, shared risk, and solidarity economics (like mutual aid and Just Transition) as pathways to liberation for all.

See also

• Paulo Freire
• Intersectionality
• Abolitionism
• Climate justice
• Mutual aid
• Black feminism
• Just Transition
• Decolonization