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Land grabs 101
Harvard's land grabs
Theory of change at Harvard
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Approach

Theoretical engagement

Approach

The purpose of this report is guided by the indigenous-informed method of civic engagement gathered by Michelle M. Jacobs, who developed this from conversations from the partnership between the University of Oregon Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI) and the surrounding Northwest tribal communities to preserve and teach their languages. Jacobs’ takeaways are (quoted):
First, partnerships must be founded with the understanding that listening is both a means and end, valued on its own. “Really listening” is defined as taking the time to develop relationships and bringing people together to listen to their needs. Community need must drive the partnership planning and efforts.
Second, marginalized communities already have successful strategies and mechanisms for surviving. Partnership efforts must recognize the inherent community strengths that exist. Thus, grassroots efforts conceptualized and carried out by community members should be supported by Western educational institutions.
Third, a practical and applied focus within partnership work is essential. The outcome of all work must provide tangible benefits within communities.
Fourth, the spirit of the partnership is of utmost importance. Process is at least equally important as product. Successful partnerships must nurture the spirits of the people involved, as they connect their work to a broader vision of collective heal- ing within the community.
These are especially relevant for this project and our campaign because we are trying to be in solidarity and fight for reparations for, and with the communities affected by Harvard’s land grabs. Because we currently are not in direct collaboration with the communities affected by the land grabs (we are in collaboration with a few people in NGOs investing Harvard’s land grabs), this initial report is aiming to point us towards collaboration with the affected communities.
For us specifically, this is a big challenge. Harvard’s land grabs have spanned five continents and many individual communities.
How can we adequately uplift the voices and demands of every community across Harvard’s vast vast land holdings?
It’s difficult for our team to do this, mainly because of capacity (we have 4 core very part-time organizers as of 2022) and the sheer amount of work it would take to collaborate with each community across the world to understand their demands. But having an approach to collaborate with communities to fight for liberation is essential to building the next steps of the campaign, and is a guide for the future work we want to do with researching Harvard’s land investments (*cough* practical and applied focus).

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