The EndGame Game Plan

Some Basics of Activist Research

LET YOUR CAMPAIGN STRATEGY GUIDE YOUR RESEARCH, AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. Remember what it is you want, and find what information you can which supports the protection of forests. Don't get lost in the maze of databases and statistics. Information is necessary, but not in itself sufficient, to save the world's forests. In any case, the solution is not technical, but cultural and political.

READ THE INDUSTRY'S LITERATURE. Get the last several annual reports from the corporation you're investigating. Read Pulp & Paper International, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and Asian Timber magazine. That's where the information about the industry is. Most of the hard data never reaches the environmental community's newsletters, and by the time it does, it's often too late.

USE THE LIBRARY. Many of the best sources of information are expensive directories, periodicals, and on-line or CD-ROM databases which grassroots activists cannot afford. Business and forestry school libraries have these resources. Check the nearest universities and large public libraries to see what their business and forestry collections offer.

INVESTIGATE. That's what research is: slow, thorough digging and sorting and choosing and using. If you get stuck, call on the groups which provide research and information support to the activist community: DataCenter, Corporate Watch, the Public Information Network, and others listed in this booklet.

PUSH THE EDGE OF WHAT'S "PRIVATE." Corporations and their governmental apologists often claim that information is private. Make information about corporations public by releasing hard-to-find information. Corporations are public institutions. Remove the corporate veil. Demystify industry and government policymaking. Recreate democracy.

USE WHAT YOU FIND. Activist research is a tool for action. Data compiled in a meaningful way is information. Information you understand becomes knowledge. Knowledge is useful only if it affects behavior and action. Data hidden in a computer or sitting on a shelf is useless, unless you use it.