How To Win is a CAA Research Project. We know using art and culture to transform the world is a good idea. But we are haunted by this question: How do we gauge the success of our projects? These posts explore this and related questions. Read more on How To Win.
12
Jun
2013
Very encouraging that this video has 6.5 million views.
Since our idea is so far from reality, how does this change the way we talk about this issue? How do we approach the topic so the people we’re talking to don’t dig in and defend what they believe to be true?
And how does the creator of this video do that very thing?
10
Jun
2013
A short article on the public relations problem around taxes and some ideas for helping it.
03
Jun
2013
01
May
2013
Even Harvard Business Review gets it: failure is a necessary part of creation and innovation. This blog post highlights how a few forward-thinking organizations build failure-friendly practices into their structure. One of our favorites is from DoSomething.org:
DoSomething.Org, a nonprofit that helps young people take action on social change initiatives, has a “FailFest” once a quarter (some people call this a FailFaire). It’s an off-the-record session open to all staff, interns, and board members and it’s designed to send a message: Failure isn’t something to be ashamed of. CEO Nancy Lublin presented during the first-ever event, demonstrating that admitting mistakes was OK and would be rewarded.
The two or three presenters at each FailFest follow specific rules:
- They wear a hot-pink feather boa (provided).
- They present for no longer than 10 minutes, and then take two minutes of Q&A from the group.
- They cover the goal, history, and timing of the failure; what went right and what went wrong; three things he or she personally learned; three things DoSomething.org learned.
- They present lessons using a fun metaphor. For example, they might show a photo of a celebrity or sing a song lyric that summarizes what they took away from their gaffe. This makes the presentations less speech-like and more, well, silly.
By making failure silly and fun, DoSomething.org takes the sting out of what might otherwise feel embarrassing.
16
Apr
2013
In a recent New York Times editorial, Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton discussed America’s broad distaste for the institution of taxation, a phenomenon that plagues advocates of progressive taxation in this country. Rather than addressing the historical-political underpinnings of these contemporary attitudes, they approach the issue from a design perspective. Their conclusion? Taxes could benefit from a strong marketing campaign.
Why the hatred? One reason is that it’s not easy for people to see how taxes provide benefits. One survey that asked Americans whether they had used any government social programs found many saying they hadn’t – when in fact, a majority had taken advantage of tax deductions for mortgage interest or child care. Fifty-three perfect had taken out student loans, and 40 percent had benefited from Medicare. Clearly, the government has a marketing problem.
The duo used Boston’s statistics on service requests for everything from potholes to missing street signs to create a visual portrayal of the city’s taxes at work:
We brought these numbers to life, providing a map with color-coded yellow and blue pins that indicated the exact spot in the city where each service request had been opened and closed. Those who saw the latter version not only thought their government was doing a better job, but also that it deserved more credit than it was getting. Forget big changes to the tax structure: a little color coding can push people’s opinions in the right direction.
16
Apr
2013
A directory of tactics and strategies for human rights activism:
16
Apr
2013
The term “escrache” comes from Argentina, where it was coined in in 1995 by the human rights activist group H.I.J.O.S, to condemn the genocides committed by members of the military dictatorship that had been pardoned by Carlos Menem, who was prime minister at the time. When justice fails to signal a violation of human rights, the people signaled where criminals live. This tactic has been used in various countries, from South America to Northern Europe.
In Spain, the local version of the global crisis is intimately linked with real-state speculation. Companies built buildings, and banks gave loans so people could buy them. Many people from the middle and lower classes got into mortgages that were to be payed in thirty or forty years. Now, that the unemployment rates are over 20%, many people can´t continue with them. But according to current laws, even if you had already paid the original prize of the household, you get evicted from your home. And even after you have been evicted, you still have to continue paying for a house you will never live in.
The Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (Platform for those Affected by Mortgates) or PAH, was founded in 2008 to face these problems collectivelly. Understanding housing as a human right, they fight against evictions and have launched a People´s Legislative Initiative: this text has been submitted to the Congress with the support of one million and a half signatures people. The Legislative Initiative asks for the cancellation of debt after the house has been returned (payment in kind), for social-rent prices for the empty homes owned by banks, and for the halting of evictions. These demands have recently been legitimized by a ruling in the European court that says the Spanish eviction law is illegal.
However, Partido Popular (PP), Spain´s ruling party, holds majority in the Congress, and does not want to vote in favor of the People´s Legislative Initiative. According to the PAH, the various amendments introduced drastically change its meaning. Reacting to this, in March, the PAH started their own “escrache” campaign.
Standing in front of politicians´ homes, people affected by mortgages conduct demonstrations and tell their experience with megaphones. The graphic-kit, a usable piece of agitprop, has been designed by Enmedio artivist collective. It depicts the two buttons for voting in the Congress, the red one for “no” and the green one for “yes”. The motto is “sí se puede, pero no quieren” (“It is possible, but they don´t want to”).
“Escraches” have been responded with the outrage of politicians and with polemics in the media. Members of the affected PP party have strongly denounced a practice that they say is anti-democratic and violent, and the government is trying to harden the law. Some annalists say the attention that is being given to “escrache” is covering up the real debate that is needed to solve the mortgage crisis.
16
Apr
2013
On August 2012, seven black Mercedes drove through the Gran Vía, one of Madrid´s main streets. It seemed like it were a State funeral. On top of each of the luxurious cars, there was an academic-style painting of a person that has been in “in charge”: king Juan Carlos, preceded the representations of all of the presidents in the Spanish democracy. All the portraits are upside down.
While it was taking place, people recorded this strange parade with their phones, and hung the videos on youtube. Although they did not know who had organized this, the meaning was clear: those in charge are already politically dead, as the social contract has long been broken. This iconic image was a performative ritual that represented the flagrant crisis of representation in Spain.
Some time later, an edited video appeared, entitled “Los encargados” (“Those in Charge”). In black and white, and with careful editing, the procession of cars is recorded with the sound track of a subtle music that grows in volume as the film advances. The song is “Warszawianka”, a Polish political hymn which in the Spanish context is recognized for giving the tune to ”A las barricades” (“To the Barricades”), an emblematic anthem for the Anarchists in the Civil War.
In this performances, the head-downward portraits evoque hanging leaders. Their depiction also suggests a symbolic decapitation. At a certain point, the image of the city is also inverted by film-editing, so that the leaders can be upright: either their heads are exhibited upside down, or the world itself will be the tilted. The order of political representation and the order of reality are obviously incompatible. At the end of the video, there is the sound of an ambulance, a subtle evocation of the beginning of violence.
This work was actually a commitment for Helga de Alvear, a prestigious Spanish gallery. The author of the portraits is painter Jorge Galindo, working together with Santiago Sierra, a famous and polemic political artist. Although this piece was produced in the context of the art world, it still works on an activist level. Its clarity in meaning with its explicit call for insurrection, and the diffussion of the video on the internet turn it into a piece of agitprop through the medium of video art.
http://www.helgadealvear.com/web/index.php/santiago-sierra-jorge-galindo-2/?lang=en
15
Apr
2013
As SCOTUS debates the constitutionality of Proposition 8 and DOMA this week, Facebook users all over the nation have become part of a burgeoning social media trend. Supporters of marriage equality have been changing their profile pictures to the icon on the left, a version of the Human Rights Campaign logo designed specifically to indicate support for same-sex marriage rights.
Although many people have said that it’s been personally meaningful to sign onto Facebook and see a screen full of red avatars, many have criticized the trend for being a silly way of “showing support” without actually accomplishing anything significant. However, although the SCOTUS justices might not be checking Facebook to tally up the red avatars before rendering a decision, a demonstration of solidarity like this one really could end up making an impact.
30
Mar
2013
Looking for some inspiration for your next creative activist project? Look no further than howitcouldbedifferent.org, which is described as a wikipedia for social change allowing users to post and share visions for a better world and ideas of specific progressive changes they would like to see happen.
Explore more at: howitcouldbedifferent.org
