Renewed Revolution in Egypt

I get the impression that a lot of people are confused about the situation in Egypt right now. That makes a lot of sense because the situation is, indeed, confusing. Didn’t they just have a revolution? Why would they need another so soon? Some say the answer is that it didn’t work the first time.

You can check out a timeline of the conflict here, but I’ll give a woefully incomplete summary as well. In the midst of the 2011 protests, the President Mubarak stepped down, leaving the country in the hands of the military, who wanted an election as soon as possible. Over 50% of the vote for president was split between progressive and liberal candidates, but the groups who got the most votes were the original regime and the large Islamic movement called the Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidate, Morsi, eventually won. The liberal-minded revolutionaries, who had been the primary protesters, evidently felt betrayed by this turn of events.

As president, Morsi made some questionable and divisive decisions, including giving himself unlimited power to “protect” the nation, somewhat undermining this huge opportunity for the Muslim Brotherhood. 22 million people signed a petition calling for his resignation, and there have been reports of up to 14 million protesters taking to the streets in June. However, in the end it was the military who removed Morsi from office, claiming the intervention was on behalf of the Egyptian people. As we can imagine, the Muslim Brotherhood is unhappy with this turn of events, and the protests and violence continue, with death tolls rising.

What is your opinion of this unconventional military coup? Can it be excused as a popular uprising? This classification will greatly influence Egypt’s international relationships and access to aid; the U.S. has already declared that it cannot financially assist a military coup. Was it wrong to depose Egypt’s democratically elected leader? Was Morsi ruling dictatorially? Many would say so, as he sought power to disregard the constitution in desired situations. What do you think are the biggest problems with democracy?

I think that revolutions, though dramatic and often inspirational, aren’t inherently useful for effecting change. There is a lot of follow through required to actually create the desired impacts of such massive protests; it doesn’t happen organically. Hopefully Egypt can begin this follow through in a more peaceful manner and find solutions that will represent the wishes of its majority.

A Multidimensional Developing World

Last term a professor told my class that the country Somalia is practically synonymous with “failed state” and that it has not had a functioning government for decades. Irked, I raised my hand to say that Somalia has had a centralized, internationally recognized, and functioning government for years now.

Many of my school projects in the last two years have focused on Somalia, and the events that have occurred in this time have being astounding. Effects of the 2011 famine and violence between militant group Al Shabaab and government led forces are still being felt. However, since the government regained control of Mogadishu there has been dramatic reconstruction in the capital city and surrounding areas. Online we can read anecdotes about assassins retiring to become drivers and the start of Somali Idol. The flurry of ambitious repairs to infrastructure and communities show that development is alive in Somalia.

Destruction in Somalia’s capital city.

This is not to say that Somalia is now fixed; there are still thousands of internationally displaced persons and refugees, violence continues, and rural areas lack the same attention Mogadishu receives. Most of all, the country continues to receive inadequate attention and support from the rest of the world. Nonetheless, it must be pointed out that the situation is leaps and bounds better than what most people believe to be true. Somalia is not a forsaken place and we cannot afford to treat it like it is.

When we only see badness in the Global South, we do a disservice to developing countries and those who live in them. Complex problems can only be improved after their complexity is acknowledged, and one-sided negativity prevents this from happening. Even a country with a weak government, food insecurity, and civil unrest should not be called a failed state. Besides the fact that there is no universally accepted definition of “failed state”, this phrase implies that an attempt is over; Somalia tried and failed. This is incredibly unsophisticated thinking and we must embrace humility in order see the world how it is instead of how we imagine it to be.

Where else do you think we see the developing world too simplistically?

Anita Sakeesian’s Tropes vs. Women and Why It’s Important

Anita Sarkeesian, well known feminist blogger, gained a lot of attention when she started a Kickstarter to fund a web series about women in video games called Tropes vs. Women. The internet went crazy. Anita received an unbelievable amount of hate for this simple initiative, including hacking attempts on her social media accounts, death and rape threats, and an internet game called “Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian”, where people could click an image of her face until it was bloodied, among other abuse. We watched her TED talk and discussed the events surrounding the Kickstarter in class today, and I was astounded to hear a classmate to say, essentially, that Anita had obviously picked the worst audience to educate with feminism. Luckily, some of the lovely ladies in my class jumped in, explaining why this is such an important place to talk about it.

Banner from Kickstarter campaign

The overwhelming majority of video games do not have strong female characters.  Women in most games are either damsels in distress, sex objects, non-player characters, or some combination of these.  Girls who enjoy gaming have to suck up the fact that they are not represented in games and that the depictions of women are often quite offensive.  It’s not just the video games themselves that are hostile and toxic for women, the gaming industry and environment aren’t friendly either. There are staggering gender imbalances in the industry, and it’s not known for being a welcoming work environment.  Female gamers face harassment, threats, and derision, forcing many to leave their favourite pastime or to hide their gender.

So why would Anita poke this beast with a stick? You cannot talk about sexism in an area where there is none, and if these ideas are never communicated to those who want to maintain the status quo then there is no hope for change. Any person who says she should not have engaged such an angry and misogynist group as video gamers can’t possibly understand how social change is brought about.  Any person who says she should have expected the enormous backlash has very low expectations for fellow human beings.

Anita Sarkeesian

The aftermath of the internet backlash was interesting. Though the abuse and violence was terrible for Anita, the storm gathered great attention for her Kickstarter, which ended up raising over $150 000, many times more than what was expected. The first part of her Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series came out last week and has more than 700 000 views.  Though incredibly unfortunate and certainly not condonable, the harassment ended up having the opposite effect it was intended to by outraging people on her behalf. One might even say that it marketed Anita’s initiative for her, but we must hope she and other women won’t have to go through similar abuse again.

I feel like this conversation was cut off too quickly in class; if anyone would like to continue it, from class or otherwise, I will see you in the comments!

Wants vs Needs: Marketing for Change and for Profit

I’m currently reflecting on the idea that it is easier to market something to a person when you convince them that they want the thing rather than need it.  This calls to mind a case we talked about in my Social Entrepreneurship class, that of marketing toilets in India.

A breakdown of health effects from insufficient  sanitation.

Lack of sanitation is a serious issue, leading to diseases such as diarrhea and typhoid being spread, or urinary tract infections and kidney and liver problems.  The absence of toilets can also sometimes prohibit girls from attending school, and means that many women must get up hours before dawn to find a discreet place to “go”. Only 11% of families have a toilet connected to a public sewer system. There have been many campaigns to increase the number of toilets being built in India, especially in rural areas, but all have failed until the “No Toilet, No Bride” movement.  Once the toilet is linked to romance it becomes desirable, and some Indian brides have begun refusing to marry a man unless there is a toilet in his house. These topics that were once culturally taboo are now advertised on the radio with slogans like, “No loo? No I do!” Since the campaign was started, more than 1.4 million toilets were built in the state of Haryana alone. Apart from the massive health benefits, the campaign has also increased the power of women in India.

I think we can agree that this seems like an enormous success; inventing a cultural desire for sanitation has been described as a “bloodless coup” by cheap and eco-friendly toilet developer Bindeshwar Pathak. The creation of this want has improved many lives in India. However, similar tactics seems disingenuous when applied to other products, like cars, clothes, etc. For example, this Dove ad similarly invents the desire for beautiful underarms.  If it didn’t exist, I doubt we would know that we are all supposed to be insecure about “ugly” underarms! I can embrace slight marketing manipulations when they’re done for the greater good, but I continue to dislike such ploys when they aim to shake our confidence in order to merely sell a product. Perhaps it’s because the want for toilets in India is accompanied by a real need for sanitation and the accompanying health benefits, while the only need accompanying the Dove ads is the company’s “need” for money.

Marketing can be so helpful in creating social movements and effecting positive change in people’s behaviour. In development, I think we should be using aspirational marketing more than campaigns based on evasion, because they might be more effective.  Positivity is simply more attractive than negativity  However, it’s only a tool and can be used for the dark side as well. When Dove invents a desire it can still be effective marketing, but it doesn’t improve the world.