How to turn protest into powerful change - Eric Liu

譯者: Jessica Lee 審譯者: 易帆 余

We live in an age of protest.

我們正處於一個抗爭的年代

On campuses and public squares,

在校園中與公共廣場上

on streets and social media,

在街頭中與社交媒體上

protesters around the world are challenging the status quo.

世界各地的抗爭人士 正在挑戰現狀

Protest can thrust issues onto the national or global agenda,

抗議活動可以將訴求的議題 成為全國或全球的議程

it can force out tyrants,

它能推翻暴政

it can activate people who have long been on the sidelines of civic life.

它能喚醒長期在 公民生活中冷眼旁觀的人民

While protest is often necessary, is it sufficient?

雖然抗議活動的存在十分必要 但光抗議就夠了嗎？

Consider the Arab Spring.

想想「阿拉伯之春」運動

All across the Middle East,

在這場遍及整個中東的運動中

citizen protesters were able to topple dictators.

公民抗爭人士推翻了獨裁者

Afterwards, though,

但是推翻之後

the vacuum was too often filled by the most militant and violent.

空轉的政權經常被極端的 激進與暴力份子所取代

Protest can generate lasting positive change

抗議活動可以延續正向的改變

when it's followed by an equally passionate effort

只要我們以同樣的熱情和努力 去號召選民進行投票

to mobilize voters,

to cast ballots,

to understand government,

了解政府的工作 並提升抗議的包容性

and to make it more inclusive.

So here are three core strategies for peacefully turning awareness into action

因此，我在這裏列舉了三條核心策略

and protest into durable political power.

可以將理念和平地轉化為行動 和更為持久的政治力量

First, expand the frame of the possible,

首先「擴大可能性的框架範圍」

second, choose a defining fight,

第二「明確抗議的目的」

and third, find an early win.

第三「取得初步的勝利」

Let's start with expanding the frame of the possible.

我們先從 「擴大可能性的框架範圍」開始

How often have you heard in response to a policy idea,

你們是否常聽見 這樣的政見回應，

"That's just never going to happen"?

「那永遠也不會發生」?

When you hear someone say that,

當你聽到有人這麼說時

they're trying to define the boundaries of your civic imagination.

他們正在試圖 界定你的公民想像力範圍

The powerful citizen works to push those boundaries outward,

一個強大的國家公民 會努力將這想像力的邊界向外推

to ask what if -

並反問大家

what if it were possible?

「如果」這是可能的呢？

What if enough forms of power -

「如果」有多方面足夠的力量：

people power, ideas, money, social norms -

人民力量、想法、 金錢、社會規範...等

were aligned to make it happen?

是不是這些力量集合起來 成功就能實現？

Simply asking that question

光提出這個問題就好

and not taken as given all the givens of conventional politics

且不要把傳統的 政治假設視為真理

is the first step in converting protest to power.

這就是轉化抗爭為力量的第一步

But this requires concreteness about what it would look like to have, say,

不過需要具體呈現你的訴求

a radically smaller national government,

像是說，縮小國家政府的編制

or, by contrast, a big single-payer healthcare system,

或擴大單一健保給付系統的規模

a way to hold corporations accountable for their misdeeds,

或是一個能要求企業 為自己的錯誤行為負責的辦法

or, instead, a way to free them from onerous regulations.

或是一個可以讓他們擺脫 繁冗法規的替代方案

This brings us to the second strategy, choosing a defining fight.

現在來談談第二個戰略： 「明確抗議的目的」

All politics is about contrasts.

所有的政治都跟「差異性」有關

Few of us think about civic life in the abstract.

我們當中很少有人 會用抽象的方式思考公民生活

We think about things in relief compared to something else.

我們會用比較具體的方式來思考

Powerful citizens set the terms of that contrast.

深具影響力的公民 要能定義出其中的差異性

This doesn't mean being uncivil.

這並不意味著要你粗魯地辯論

It simply means thinking about a debate you want to have on your terms

這只是要你在你定義的 前提下做辯論

over an issue that captures the essence of the change you want.

議題上含有你想傳遞 改變的精髓

This is what the activists pushing for a $15 minimum wage in the U.S. have done.

這也是推動美國十五元最低工資的 積極人士能成功的原因

They don't pretend that $15 by itself can fix inequality,

他們不妄想十五元本身 可以解決不平等現象

but with this ambitious and contentious goal,

但他們先後在西雅圖完成了 這個極具野心又爭議性的目標

which they achieved first in Seattle and then beyond,

they have forced a bigger debate about economic justice and prosperity.

並推動了更大型 有關經濟正義與繁榮的辯論

They've expanded the frame of the possible, strategy one,

他們已做到戰略一： 「擴大可能性的框架範圍」

and created a sharp emblematic contrast, strategy two.

並創造戰略二： 「一個銳利鮮明的象徵性差異」

The third key strategy, then, is to seek and achieve an early win.

第三個關鍵的戰略就是： 「取得初步的勝利」

An early win, even if it's not as ambitious as the ultimate goal,

「取得初步的勝利」雖然沒有 終極目標來的偉大

creates momentum,

但所造成的聲勢

which changes what people think is possible.

足以改變人們對 可能性的想法

The solidarity movement,

「團結工聯」運動

which organized workers in Cold War Poland emerged just this way,

冷戰時期的波蘭工人 就是以這樣的方式被組織起來的

first, with local shipyard strikes in 1980 that forced concessions,

1980年首度在當地船廠罷工 迫使政府讓步

then, over the next decade,

爾後的十年

a nationwide effort that ultimately helped topple

在全國的努力下

最後推翻了 波蘭的共產黨政府

Poland's communist government.

Getting early wins sets in motion a positive feedback loop,

「取得初步的勝利」可以帶來 正向的反饋循環、

a contagion, a belief, a motivation.

可以讓思想蔓延開來 產生一種信念、動力

It requires pressuring policymakers,

這須要向決策者施壓

using the media to change narrative,

利用媒體 改變事情的敘述方式

making arguments in public,

在公開場合舉行辯論

persuading skeptical neighbors one by one by one.

逐一說服抱持懷疑態度的朋友

None of this is as sexy as a protest,

這雖然沒有抗爭來的感性

but this is the history of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement,

但造就了美國人權運動的歷史、

of Indian Independence,

造就了印度獨立的歷史、

of Czech self-determination.

造就了捷克民族自決權的歷史

Not the single sudden triumph,

這不是突如其來的勝利

but the long, slow slog.

而是長期辛苦打拼 慢慢累積的成果

You don't have to be anyone special to be part of this grind,

參與這份苦差事 你不必要是一個特殊的人

to expand the frame of the possible,

才能「擴大可能性的架構」

to pick a defining fight,

才能「明確抗議的目的」

or to secure an early win.

或才能「取得初步的勝利」

You just have to be a participant and to live like a citizen.

你只需要成為參與者 並活得像一位公民

The spirit of protest is powerful.

抗爭的精神是極具影響力的

So is showing up after the protest.

抗爭結束後仍要持續關注

You can be the co-creator of what comes next.

你也可以成為未來的共同創造者