social justice

Amp

“Instead of always thinking that we need to make an app to 'solve' some problem, there are often really strong existing community processes. Wherever community is targeted by oppression, there are often strategies of resistance. The question is how a design can amplify some of those powerful existing projects, or frameworks, or approaches that are coming out of community organizing models.”
— Sasha Costanza-Chock, via NiemanLab

>  21 June 2017 | LINK | Filed in

The Success of Non-Violent Civil Resistance

In 2008, Erica Chenoweth published a study comparing 323 violent and non-violent civil resistance campaigns between 1900 and 2006. Among her findings:

  • Non-violent campaigns worldwide were twice as likely to succeed as violent insurgencies.
  • This trend is increasing — in the last 50 years civil resistance has become increasingly frequent and effective, while violent insurgencies have become increasingly rare and unsuccessful.
  • Campaigns were successful once they'd achieved the active and sustained participation of just 3.5% of the population — and many succeeded with far less than that.
  • Every single campaign that surpassed the 3.5% threshold was a nonviolent one.
  • Campaigns that relied solely on non-violent methods were on average four times larger than the average violent campaign — and much more diverse and inclusive.

Erica presented her research at TEDxBoulder last month:


She's also posted an FAQ and a transcript of her talk along with links and footnotes.

>  8 November 2013 | LINK | Filed in ,
RT @medialens: MLK: 'True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.'
Twitter  20 January 2013 | LINK | Filed in ,
Oxfam: World’s 100 richest earned enough in 2012 to end global poverty 4 times over.
Twitter  20 January 2013 | LINK | Filed in ,
“I saw the camera could be a weapon against poverty, racism, all sorts of social wrongs. I had to have a camera.” Remembering Gordon Parks.
Twitter  1 December 2012 | LINK | Filed in , ,
RT @CriticalReading: Five examples of #civildisobedience to remember | Richard Seymour: guardian.co.uk/…
Twitter  22 August 2012 | LINK | Filed in ,

Things to Be

This is not the way things are supposed to be.

Happy birthday Angela Davis. The quote is from this talk of hers on how change happens. If inclined you can download the image as a PDF.

>  26 January 2012 | LINK | Filed in , ,

Progressive Art

“Progressive art can assist people to learn not only about the objective forces at work in the society in which they live, but also about the intensely social character of their interior lives. Ultimately, it can propel people toward social emancipation.”

Great quote from Angela Davis via Feministing. I tracked it down to Davis’s 1990 book of essays Women, Culture and Politics. Though oddly enough, when searching for the source I found a lot of websites attribute the quote to Salvador Dali. Which changes the meaning a bit. Or at the least the implied tactics.

>  11 April 2010 | LINK | Filed in ,
Visualizing Public Policy. tomato.jpg The Center for Urban Pedagogy has announced a call for designers for the next round of Making Policy Public. This year’s fold-out poster designs will cover policy briefs on:
  • Preserving public parks and historically safe spaces for LGBTQ teens in the context of rapid privatization of public space.
  • Enabling public housing residents to become active participants in critical decisions about the developments where they live.
  • Educating the public about the redistricting process and reforms that can make it less subject to political manipulation.
  • Helping youth and their families navigate the juvenile justice system.
  • Visualizing market forces along the tomato supply chain that give rise to sweatshop working conditions in the Florida tomato industry.
See this previous Making Policy Public brief on street vendor regulations in New York City.
>  29 July 2009 | LINK | Filed in , , ,



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