the iconography of dissent and global politics

ICONOGRAPHY OF DISSENTAND GLOBAL POLITICS

Daniel Drache, Senior Research Fellow and Associate Director

David Clifton, Research Associate Marc Froese, Research Associate

A Digital Report From The Counter-Publics Working Group

Please Send Comments To drache@yorku.caOctober 2004

EyeConics

Dissent Iconography Can Be Measured By The Performativity And Impact Of Its Ideas On Public Opinion; The Aesthetics Of Its Look To Emote Anger Or To Force A Reaction (I Am For It Or Against It); And The Durability Of Its Message To Outlast Its Birth Event And Inspire Succeeding Generations Of Activists.

EyeCons And Popular Culture

EyeCons Are Highly Valued In An Age Awash In Ephemeral Information, Popular Culture And Celebrity Personalities. EyeCons Are Visual Shortcuts In Our Optic Consciousness.

Drowning In Images

Icons Are Poignant Because We Have So Little Usable Public Space. When Every Inch Of Space Is Being Used To Sell You Something, Icons Hold Potential Because They Are So Space-Efficient. Kind Of Like An Image Version Of The Sound-Bite. Iconic Images Open Doors And Minds About Anything And Everything.

Competing For Air TimeEyeConic Images Are A Powerful Vehicle For Packaging All Kinds Of Social Values. What Sets Those With A Political Message Apart?

Britney Spears Kim Phuc

The Popular Culture Of Dissent

Political EyeCons Are Chosen From The Individuals And Events That We Admire The Most. They Have Eye-Popping Recognition And Are Mind Maps For Decoding Identity And Citizenship.

It Is Easy To Forget That The Photographer, News Anchor, Reporter Or Talking Head Shapes Our Optic Consciousness Much Like The Novelist Who Pre-Selects The Text That We Read With So Much Avidity And Suspension Of Disbelief. Viewer, Spectator, Consumer Caveat Emptor!

The Blinkers Of Contemporary-Mindedness

David Suzuki Lloyd Robertson Yousef KarshBarbara Frum

Icons Are Modern Ideograms

Iconic Images Are Packed With Ideas. They Challenge Our Biases, Raise Our Expectations And Inspire Us To Do The Right Thing - Ban The Bomb, Power To The People, The Personal Is Political.

The Branding Of The Iconic LeaderIconic Images Of Leadership Are Ideograms That Grab The Public’s Attention. The Iron Lady, Mandela And Bin Laden Are An Ordering System For Political Identities.

The Protean Hero

Che Is The Prototypical Hero: A Utopian Visionary, A Man Of Action, A Principled Revolutionary. Do You Have A Favorite Che?

Marketing Che’s Revolutionary Mystique Marketing Gurus Know A Good Icon When They See One. For Better Or Worse, Icons Are Commodities. Usually, For The Worse.

The Che Album Cover The Che Swatch The Che Bikini

Heroes, Movements And Ideas

Collective Memory Is Not Only About Heroes, But Forms A Virtual Public Archive Of Dissent Iconography. Countless Events, Forgotten Moments, And Brash Ideas That Change The World Are Captured.

“Only Images In The Mind Motivate The Will”- Walter Benjamin in Essay On Surrealism

The Personal Is Political

The Feminist Movement Is Defined By Iconic Ideas Rather Than Iconic Leaders

The Sexual Revolution Is All About Power. Sexual Politics Highlights The Ubiquity Of Patriarchy In Western Literature And Culture.

Icons Are Emotive And Interactive. There Is No One Universal Memory.

Father of Family Must be Master of His House. Canada vs. U.S.

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1992 1996 2000

Canada

USA

Michael Adams, 2003

US Civil Rights Struggles Have Produced Some Of The Most Searing Images Of The 20th Century

Impatient, Audacious, Innovative And Militant, It Was A Mass Movement Of Radical Black And White Activists Who Connected The Poor With The Affluent.

Power To The People March On Washington August 28th , 1963

Why An Upsurge In Dissent Rather Than Conformity?

Global Hunger, Economic Inequality, Social Exclusion, Racism And Environmental Degradation Have Worsened, While New Technologies Connect The Local And The Global As Never Before

Icons Of Dissent Define Who We Aspire To Be

The Continuous Movement Of People And Information Feeds A Cycle Of Dissent With Far-Reaching Consequences. Paroxysms Of Public Demonstration Have Intensified In An Age Of Globalization.

Politicizing The Body Politic

George W. Bush’s Unilateralism Has Lit A Fire Under Global Dissent Movements. Public Opinion Is Shifting Against Elites And Their Socially Regressive Agendas.

Icons Are The Stuff of Modern Mythology

You Don’t Have To Be A Card-carrying ‘Red’ Like Norman Bethune, Or A Professional Anarchist To Be A Political Activist. With The Online Public Numbering In The Tens Of Millions Worldwide, The Recruiting Pool Of Dissenters Is Virtually Unlimited.

To Be A Contrarian, A Skeptic, A Battler Is Open To Everyone

Systemic Change Is The Goal Of Every Social Movement. Discursive Bloggers, Dystopic Nixers, Governance Fixers, Political Contrarians And Professional Sceptics Have Different Roadmaps For Social Change.

The Ubiquity Of DissentInsurgent Counterpublics Are Part Of Every Society's Undertow And Need Only A Trigger To Be Activated. Counterpublics Aren’t Ceremonial; Nor Can They Be Controlled. Social And Political Dissent Promotes Doubts About Dominant Values, The Ruling Orthodoxy And Gender.

The Expanding Universe of Dissent Are You …

A Paradigm Shifter? A Radical Feminist?An Anti-Racist Activist?A Poverty Eradicator?A Human Rights Crusader?A Globalization Fixer?A Raging Blogger?A Socialist Agitator?An Active Localist?An Online Hacktivist?A Union Militant?A Cosmopolitan Iconoclast?An Anti-Corporate Culture-Jammer?A Transnational Networker?

Where Do You Fit In?Chart Your Own Course On The Compass.

EyeConics

Anti-Globalization Environmentalism

Anti-RacismGendered ActivismAnd Gay Rights

Collective Responsibility

Social Inclusion

IndividualFreedom

HumanSecurity

Be An EyeConic Wizard

The goal of this website is to encourage you to explore how radical politics have been shaped by political imagery both optic and textual. Create your own digital essay. We can show you how and it’s not difficult.

The ANC’s Struggle Against Apartheid

Here's A Few To Help You Get Started

From Rwanda To Darfur: The Crime Of Global Indifference

‘The Banality Of Evil’ And The Horror Of Human Rights Abuses

Eco-Activism

Team Canada Versus Option Québec

Indigenous Struggles: From Oka To Chiapas To Ipperwash

Queer Activism

From Rebel Music To Revolution Rock

Select a political leader, a radical idea or a revolutionary moment that you think is iconic.

Identify the key breakthroughs and turning points in that movement and find images from those moments.

Construct a timeline and a narrative from the images. Tell the story but don’t be too historical.

Workshop your images – icons are icons because they resonate, your audience will tell you if you’ve been successful.

ICONOGRAPHY OF DISSENTAND GLOBAL POLITICS

EyeConics