The Poet and the Pragmatist: Cross-Sectoral Insights Against the Grain and for Activist Politics

Abstract

Claims of structural injustice are difficult to hear for those in positions of social advantage, where listening and response are needed most. Most activist strategies focus primarily on “disruptive” politics, which exerts pressure on decision-makers via a pragmatics of directness, expediency, and force. This paper argues that the particular “structures of feeling” that make listening difficult for advantaged groups call for a different kind of activism. It draws on interdisciplinary expertise from four sectors effective in fostering listening in the face of challenge – conflict mediation, therapy, education, and performance – to articulate three common features that enable transformation in these sites. Each of these more “poetic” qualities runs counter to the logic of most activist politics, and holds significant potential for civic interventions that seek to open closures and soften resistances to claims of structural injustice among socially advantaged groups.