Episode Details
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A playbook for organizing in turbulent times
Description
Srdja Popovic
20 years ago, Srdja Popovic was part of a revolution — literally. He was a founding member of the Otpor! movement that ousted Serbia Slobodan Milsovic from power in 1999. It’s easy to characterize social movements as a bunch of people rallying in the streets, but successful movements require a lot of planning and a unified vision around a singular goal — things that are often easier said than done.
Srdja joins us this week to discuss why Otpor! was successful and anyone can use the same principles of what we describes as “laughtivism” to fight for change. He is the director of the Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CAVNAS) and author of Blueprint for Revolution: How to Use Rice Pudding, Lego Men, and Other Nonviolent Techniques to Galvanize Communities, Overthrow Dictators, or Simply Change the World.
At the end of the episode, Michael and Chris compare Srdja’s discussion of anger and fear with some of the results we’ve seen from our Mood of the Nation Poll.
Srdja visited Penn State as a guest of the Center for Global Studies, the same organization that hosted Syrian journalist Abdalaziz Alhamza in the fall. Our episode with him is a nice companion to this conversation with Srdja.
Additional Information
Srdja’s book: Blueprint for Revolution
A book Srdja references in the interview: The Dictator’s Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy
Another Democracy Works episode you might enjoy: Breaking the silence in Syria – Abdalaziz Alhamza
Discussion/Reflection Questions
- How did the Otpor! movement achieve its goals?
- How should a social movement balance its members individuals goals and views against the larger goals?
- How do you see the apathy and fear Srdja described playing out in today’s political climate?
- Do you think Otpor!’s approach could be successful in a place like Hungary or Brazil?
- What are some recent examples of laughtivism? Are they effective?
Interview Highlights
[4:20] What was the the political climate in Serbia when the Otpor! movement began?
We started with large students protests. We were occupying campuses and all the intellectuals were there. The first large-scale demonstrations started in Serbia and we figure out that in fact, we can win local elections if opposition is united, but we lost. After three months on the streets every day, we understood that it’s a very stupid way to have everyday protests because are very costly. The movement grew from 11 people into several hundred, then performed a large tactics of recruitment and and grew up up to 70,000. We had a pretty clear vision of tomorrow — we were trying to build unity among the civil sector and the opposition parties. We stayed cool and nonviolent and focusing in low-risk tactics.
[10:15] What are some of the the strategies you recommend for people to build broad coalitions or movements?
The first thing is you need to understand what you really want to change. You need to look the terrain and your constituency. Try to listen and try to find the smallest common denominator that will bring groups to your side. Try to figure out why the people who are pro change and against change feel that way.