playing with space and time to foster solidarity

“It’s not happening here. But it is happening now.” is the title of this ad campaign Amnesty International put up in Switzerland that has been getting reposted around the web (I saw it here). Below are only 10 of the 200 posters in the campaign.  I have seen many attempts over the years to bring a conflict 'into' a more peaceful space as a way to inspire solidarity, for example giving numbers of how many dead it would translate into if the war were in your town, or overlaying a map of where bombs have fallen in Baghdad to San Francisco, but this is a whole new take on these moves to help people 'bring it home' and imagine what it would be like to live it 'here', as a way to inspire action to end war over 'there'.

via acidcow.

empathy vs. sympathy

I have been trying, literally for twenty years, to sort out how people understand and commonly use the words empathy and sympathy.  I started thinking about the two and how they might be related to solidarity for my Swarthmore college thesis.   Since then when they come up in conversation I have regularly asked people what they understand the words to mean, and what they see the difference as. I have become convinced that people use them in widely different ways - so if you hear people use them don't assume you know what they mean by these terms! Here are Brene Brown's definitions, beautifully animated by the RSA.

whose shoes?

I have blogged a fair bit about the dangers, but also sometimes potential, of 'walking in her shoes' if we want to foster more meaningful, respectful, and powerful solidarity.

I have no reservations, however, in saying that 'giving her a pair of my shoes' smells more like charity to me.  I have blogged before about my qualms with the TOMS shoe give away campaign, and in particular their 'one day without shoes' simulation empathy/awareness exercise (and the counter campaign of a 'day without dignity').

Well, I'm certainly not the only one who has criticized them, and in response, they have pledged by 2015 to make one third of their shoes in the places where the shoes are distributed.  I am still dubious that this does much to change the relationship between the buyer and those who receive the shoes, or change, or educate about, the structural violence that leaves some people with less access to shoes. 


"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, you'll be a
mile from them, and you'll have their shoes." - Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts (via my friend Christy)

poorism gone mad

I have blogged many times before about simulations, where people actually try to 'walk in another person's shoes' (and in so doing may well step on the person whose shoes they try to walk in).  There is a real danger of these experiments inspiring appropriative or false empathy where you think you really know what it's like to be me after 'playing me' for a day.  But here's a bizarre simulation that is so fake it doesn't seem like those playing it could possibly think they were getting a taste of this reality - or could they?  Full article reposted here from gizmodo because it's so mind boggling.    

A Fake Slum for Luxury Tourists Who Don't Want to See Real Poverty

It's estimated that one in eight people worldwide live in so-called slums, which, in some cities, makes visiting these informally maintained neighborhoods unavoidable. Although controversial, the practice of "slum tourism" has become a popular way for tourists to engage with poverty on a personal level. But why go visit an actual slum when you can simply stay at a luxury resort that looks like a slum?

The Emoya Luxury Hotel and Spa near Bloemfontein, South Africa offers Shanty Town, a dozen shacks made from scrap wood and corrugated metal that it thinks is the perfect setting for your next corporate retreat or wedding anniversary. The resort has gone to great lengths to recreate the joys of slum living without the nuisances of crime, disease, or poor sanitation: "Now you can experience staying in a Shanty within the safe environment of a private game reserve. This is the only Shanty Town in the world equipped with under-floor heating and wireless internet access!"

For those of you worried that the presence of heating and wi-fi might not make for an authentic slum experience, don't worry! Shanty Town has made it more realistic for you by installing a "famous 'long-drop' outside toilet" and encouraging guests to heat water in outdoor fires. By burning toxic, life expectancy-lowering trash, I hope!

The rooms will set you back about $82 a night, which some have noted is a half month's salary for the average South African.

 

Reviews on Trip Advisor were mixed. While one guest praised it as a "real experience," and even enjoyed a barbecue under the stars at their shack, another cautioned that slums do not offer good value: "Do not even consider staying in the Shanty Town. For the price you can stay in a luxury bed and breakfast establishment. An average caravan park with chalets will have the same experience." [This Is Africa via Urbanphoto]