Publication History:
Plan C, November 2009
Why do we protest, or engage in any form of activism? Is it simply to change something in our world, or does it fulfil a deeper need?
When ecstatic shoppers descended upon the brand new Primark store in Cambridge last weekend, they were in for a treat. Just outside the main doors, in the middle of the busy high street, was laid out a ‘Free Shop’ consisting of a table and a clothes rack offering items that people could take for free and with no obligation. There was also a sofa so people could sit down and enjoy guitar renditions of Hey Mr Tambourine Man. The ambience was one of surprise and delight.
No-one likes to be told that what they’re doing is wrong. There is every difference between waving placards at shoppers with sweatshop labour statistics, and creating this curious, seductive scene which draws people into conversations about whether it would be more interesting to shop less and live more.
When creativity and protest intersect like this, it’s not only a more impactful way of engaging the naysayers and the misinformed into more meaningful conversation, it’s also more impactful for those of us protesting ourselves. If we feel empowered by the experience, we are more likely to do it again and engage more deeply.
Indeed, here in Cambridge we seem to be getting the hang of this kind of activism. In the market square on Sept 21st, many of us participated in a ‘flash mob’; at exactly 12:18, our mobile phones started ringing and strangers emerged from all sides, holding high those ringing phones. Our common goal was to send out an unexpected ‘wake up’ call about the need for a fair and ambitious global climate treaty. Across the globe, other paralleled events took place simultaneously.
This is Protest 2.0 – more collaborative and engaging than its predecessor. And the scope of creative protest is limited only by our imaginations.
Rather than campaigning against Dow Chemicals, we could record a press conference as a spokesperson from Dow, announcing that we take full responsibility for the Bhopal Disaster and that we are paying compensation to the people affected, and thus provoking Dow to deny, again, that they will ever pay any compensation.
Stunts like these provide us with moments like those in the film ‘The Truman Show’ when cracks start appearing in the fabricated reality. The veil slips. Chinks of light break through. The sleepwalker starts rubbing her eyes.
This is activism which entertains in order to engage. Like any superb teacher knows, these are the conditions needed for deep, experiential learning – for real change to happen.
By using creativity, the novel and the surprising, we can respond to that which repels us in our environment without needing to look directly at it. We can channel our instinct to innovate and influence in the direction of our common enemy: stagnation. We can learn how to disarm the status quo without taking up arms ourselves.
So, rather than sending a petition around about the dangers of swine flu vaccination, we could post a video to YouTube entitled ‘How To Make Your Own Flu Vaccine’, a hilarious ‘infomercial’ showing ingredients such as mercury and detergent merrily being whisked into a substance that will be syringed into our arms.
Protest 2.0 makes us like martial artists – we stand in our own centre and our very refusal to push and fight is what causes the great unworkable to topple over. We can find ways of challenging situations without threatening the people within them; instead of aggressively tearing down the old, this is creatively and gentling dismantling it so that no-one need be the accused or the victim. This is the “Why don’t we….?” and “What if we….?” approach to evolving our world.
How we measure the success of any activism is impossible – and reassuringly so. We can never know the impact of our actions so it is wise to put arrogance aside. Instead, we can use a different measure: how much are we impacted by our involvement?
Both the Free Shop and the Wake Up call experiences left me feeling more empowered, more connected with others and more alive.
Protest itself can also fuel a very healthy and necessary part of our human spirit – that part which is unapologetically revolutionary, fiercely able to make our hopes and needs known.
As activists, we need to concern ourselves just as much with our evolution as with changing ‘out there’. We want to walk the talk, become the kind of people others want to live with: those who can handle conflict and disagreement in a participatory and inclusive way, knowing that they are essential ingredients of our societal evolution.
We will never arrive at some ‘finished’ society where everything is sorted out and fixed. For most of us, it’s a relief to recognise that there will always be the need for creative activism. Our desire for the next best material thing can be replaced by a craving for the next great radical act. That spark of the revolutionary within each of us can continue to lead us forward in exciting and radical directions.
May that never, ever end.
© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2009. All rights reserved.
Excellent article, Corrina. Brings to mind the Yesmen, whose film of the same name, is very inspiring and funny. People may still shop at Primark but they may feel a twinge of guilt, a crack of awareness about the wider context in which they live their lives, beyond the shopping centre.
– Nick Stibbs
Wow – I really related to this article. It was as if my thoughts and feelings had been put, eloquently, into words. I personally hate conflict and as Corrina says, ‘No-one likes to be told that what they’re doing is wrong.’ So why start a fight? Creative protest seems like a really cool way to go…… Corrina, you are an artist painting clear and beautiful pictures with your words. Thank you.
– Sandie Roach
