How to turn protest into powerful change - Eric Liu
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0:07 - 0:10We live in an age of protest.
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0:10 - 0:11On campuses and public squares,
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0:11 - 0:13on streets and social media,
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0:13 - 0:17protesters around the world
are challenging the status quo. -
0:17 - 0:21Protest can thrust issues
onto the national or global agenda, -
0:21 - 0:23it can force out tyrants,
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0:23 - 0:27it can activate people who have
long been on the sidelines of civic life. -
0:27 - 0:31While protest is often necessary,
is it sufficient? -
0:31 - 0:33Consider the Arab Spring.
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0:33 - 0:35All across the Middle East,
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0:35 - 0:39citizen protesters
were able to topple dictators. -
0:39 - 0:40Afterwards, though,
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0:40 - 0:46the vacuum was too often filled
by the most militant and violent. -
0:46 - 0:48Protest can generate
lasting positive change -
0:48 - 0:51when it's followed by an equally
passionate effort -
0:51 - 0:53to mobilize voters,
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0:53 - 0:53to cast ballots,
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0:53 - 0:55to understand government,
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0:55 - 0:59and to make it more inclusive.
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0:59 - 1:03So here are three core strategies for
peacefully turning awareness into action -
1:03 - 1:07and protest into durable political power.
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1:07 - 1:10First, expand the frame of the possible,
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1:10 - 1:12second, choose a defining fight,
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1:12 - 1:17and third, find an early win.
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1:17 - 1:20Let's start with expanding the frame
of the possible. -
1:20 - 1:23How often have you heard
in response to a policy idea, -
1:23 - 1:26"That's just never going to happen"?
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1:26 - 1:27When you hear someone say that,
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1:27 - 1:32they're trying to define the boundaries
of your civic imagination. -
1:32 - 1:35The powerful citizen works to push
those boundaries outward, -
1:35 - 1:37to ask what if -
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1:37 - 1:38what if it were possible?
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1:38 - 1:40What if enough forms of power -
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1:40 - 1:43people power, ideas, money, social norms -
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1:43 - 1:46were aligned to make it happen?
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1:46 - 1:48Simply asking that question
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1:48 - 1:52and not taken as given all the givens
of conventional politics -
1:52 - 1:56is the first step in converting
protest to power. -
1:56 - 2:00But this requires concreteness about what
it would look like to have, say, -
2:00 - 2:03a radically smaller national government,
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2:03 - 2:07or, by contrast, a big single-payer
healthcare system, -
2:07 - 2:10a way to hold corporations accountable
for their misdeeds, -
2:10 - 2:15or, instead, a way to free them
from onerous regulations. -
2:15 - 2:20This brings us to the second strategy,
choosing a defining fight. -
2:20 - 2:23All politics is about contrasts.
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2:23 - 2:26Few of us think about civic life
in the abstract. -
2:26 - 2:30We think about things in relief
compared to something else. -
2:30 - 2:34Powerful citizens set the terms
of that contrast. -
2:34 - 2:36This doesn't mean being uncivil.
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2:36 - 2:40It simply means thinking about a debate
you want to have on your terms -
2:40 - 2:45over an issue that captures the essence
of the change you want. -
2:45 - 2:50This is what the activists pushing for
a $15 minimum wage in the U.S. have done. -
2:50 - 2:54They don't pretend that $15 by itself
can fix inequality, -
2:54 - 2:57but with this ambitious
and contentious goal, -
2:57 - 3:00which they achieved first in Seattle
and then beyond, -
3:00 - 3:06they have forced a bigger debate
about economic justice and prosperity. -
3:06 - 3:09They've expanded the frame
of the possible, strategy one, -
3:09 - 3:14and created a sharp emblematic contrast,
strategy two. -
3:14 - 3:18The third key strategy, then,
is to seek and achieve an early win. -
3:18 - 3:22An early win, even if it's not
as ambitious as the ultimate goal, -
3:22 - 3:23creates momentum,
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3:23 - 3:26which changes
what people think is possible. -
3:26 - 3:28The solidarity movement,
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3:28 - 3:33which organized workers in Cold War Poland
emerged just this way, -
3:33 - 3:37first, with local shipyard strikes in 1980
that forced concessions, -
3:37 - 3:39then, over the next decade,
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3:39 - 3:41a nationwide effort
that ultimately helped topple -
3:41 - 3:44Poland's communist government.
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3:44 - 3:49Getting early wins sets in motion
a positive feedback loop, -
3:49 - 3:51a contagion, a belief, a motivation.
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3:51 - 3:54It requires pressuring policymakers,
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3:54 - 3:57using the media to change narrative,
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3:57 - 3:58making arguments in public,
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3:58 - 4:02persuading skeptical neighbors
one by one by one. -
4:02 - 4:05None of this is as sexy as a protest,
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4:05 - 4:08but this is the history
of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, -
4:08 - 4:10of Indian Independence,
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4:10 - 4:12of Czech self-determination.
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4:12 - 4:14Not the single sudden triumph,
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4:14 - 4:18but the long, slow slog.
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4:18 - 4:21You don't have to be anyone special
to be part of this grind, -
4:21 - 4:23to expand the frame of the possible,
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4:23 - 4:25to pick a defining fight,
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4:25 - 4:28or to secure an early win.
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4:28 - 4:32You just have to be a participant
and to live like a citizen. -
4:32 - 4:34The spirit of protest is powerful.
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4:34 - 4:37So is showing up after the protest.
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4:37 - 4:40You can be the co-creator
of what comes next.
- Title:
- How to turn protest into powerful change - Eric Liu
- Description:
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View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-turn-protest-into-powerful-change-eric-liu
We live in an age of protest. On campuses, in public squares, on streets and social media, protestors around the world are challenging the status quo. But while protest is often necessary, is it sufficient? Eric Liu outlines three strategies for peacefully turning awareness into action and protest into durable political power.
Lesson by Eric Liu, animation by Sarah Saidan.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:57
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