Workshop
Resisting Trump Support/Discussion/Action Group
Elliot Benjamin
Capella University
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7551-0377
This workshop is an experiential participation group where participants have the
opportunity to engage in sharing and networking in regard to their resistance activities to the
destructive policies of United States President Donald Trump. As the group facilitator I will
initially share my own Trump resistance activities, which include my promoting academic
freedom on United States colleges and universities, my advocating to my Republican senator
for resistance to Trump’s inhumane policies toward immigrants and getting the United States
in another war, my attending mass rallies in support of United States democracy and in
opposition to the cruel tactics of ICE, and my facilitation of an in-person Resisting Trump
support/discussion/action group. In particular, I will describe my promotion of a petition for a
winning Democratic strategy that originated from an active member of my Resisting Trump
support/discussion/action group, for which another group member is making use of to try to
influence the 2026 Maine Democratic party platform through being involved in her local
caucus and attending the Maine caucus convention, as well as the promotion of my Iran War
Concerns petition that originated from a discussion in my group. This will serve as examples
of how a Resisting Trump support/discussion/action group can encourage its members to
take effective proactive steps to diminish Trump’s destructive authoritarian policies, and will
lead into group participants’ sharing of their own Trump resistance activities, along with
support, discussion, and recommended action steps from the group.
The group process will be based upon the empathy and authenticity and non-directive
leadership framework from humanistic psychology. However, I will be facilitating the group in
the dual role of a participant/facilitator, as I have described in a number of my published
articles. The orientation of the group will be focused on the dangers of the United States
being in the midst of a competitive authoritarianism, meaning that although we still have
elections, they are in danger of being controlled by Trump and his high level administrators. A
significant aspect of the Resisting Trump movement that I will discuss is the work of strategic
non-cooperation in a number of different contexts that have successfully been implemented
over the past year. This kind of Resistance Trump work is part and parcel of resistance to
authoritarianism throughout the world. However, one distinctive feature of the current
Resisting Trump work is the potential that I believe we have to thwart the “authoritarianism”
aspect of the competitive authoritarianism dangers that the United States is currently facing.
Share on socials
Register for the Conference
Register to attend the Conference, online or in person, starting from only $10!
You will get unlimited access to sessions like this, 1 year FREE Resistance Studies Hub membership, which includes Journal of Resistance Studies, Resistance Studies Network community platform, and future events and activites. You will have the chance to learn, share, network, connect with Resistance scholars and activists from all around the world!