Undercover Activism

How to be an effective activist in dangerous times.

  • 3 key goals - a clear vision

  • Calls to action are limited in scope, specific, and targeted

  • Small and disparate social-media networks

  • Horizontal organization - not one leader who could be removed

  • Appeal to wide swath of population

  • Unconventional safe meeting spaces

  • Revolution, not reform

These are the characteristics of the protests in Iran, as identified in The Economist’s October 29th article, “Will the Regime Fall?”.  It’s not over yet, and we don’t know the outcome, but we can learn from the lessons.

Have a Vision:

Their mantra has 3 key goals - zan, zindiqi, azade (women, life, freedom).  The mantra is a vision, not a laundry list.  It is a way of living, not a policy playbook.  The mantra hits emotions, shows a vision, a new way of being.  Simple, inspiring, appealing.  The result?  Broad support stems from different religious sects and ethnicities, beyond the middle class, and across gender lines.

Effective Messaging:

The broad vision provides a broad umbrella for change.  Make no mistake, the protestors are not requesting tweaks and reforms, they are demanding that status quo be overthrown.  This requires engaging a broad spectrum of interests.  The messaging, the ‘asks’ are specific, reasonable, and achievable.  Release students from jail.  Hold a trail for security men who killed protesters.  Specific, reasonable, and achievable messaging brings more people along, unites rather than divides.  Once the status quo is overturned, the debate and/or fighting about the details of the new system will occur, but first keep the focus on the vision.

Break the Rules:

A recent book about violent groups noted the importance of structure and titles to keep members in line.  Quasi-military ranks were assigned and loyalty had to be proven to advance in rank, often in the form of acts of violence.  Sub-groups provide another layer of structure, with rank and loyalty, but reporting into leadership.  This is nothing new.  We’ve seen it in extremist groups, cults, gangs, organized crime, even religious groups.  Vestiges of proving loyalty continue through hazing rituals in many spheres, from fraternities to corporations.  Follow stories of court intrigue throughout history to understand how deeply embedded in our psyche are the ideas of rank and proving loyalty.  What distinguishes the protests in Iran is that they are led, overwhelmingly, by women, a first in the Middle East.  A group which holds little traditional power.  By throwing out the hierarchical playbook, they leave those in power in chaos.  With no identifiable leader or structure, the current government has no ability to cut the head off the Hydra.  For every woman they kill for exposing their hair, hundreds more are throwing away their headscarves.  For every woman who enters a male-only room at a university, there are a dozen men holding the door open, inviting them in, and joining the fight.  The same holds for where protestors are meeting.  Not traditional areas like junctions or enclosed areas where they can easily be rounded up, but along main routes.  Jails, where, ironically, protestors from many walks of life can share ideas and strategies, find common ground.

In my opinion, the single greatest advantage of the female protestors in Iran is that the rules never did work for them.  By not following the rules, they are one step ahead.  They have created a new playing field, and she who creates the game writes the rules.

As with any time of social upheaval, the backlash is significant.

  • 244 dead, 12,500 detained

  • Surveillance increasing

  • Paying police double to enforce order

  • Roll out country-wide intranet to seal off world wide web

  • Inflation is over 50%

  • Currency value has plummeted

  • Millions have fallen into poverty

  • Fear of ending like Syria - burn down the country to remain in power

Only time will tell if the protestors are successful.  An even longer time will be needed to analyze the outcome, both the successes and the unexpected consequences.

Of one thing I am certain - Iran, Iran’s women, and the rest of the world, will be changed by the protests.  Activism is like water, once it has found a crack, it makes a new path going forward.

Once we have seen a different way of activism, one that has been successful in unexpected ways, only a fool would go back to blind adherence of the original playbook.  Learn from what works.

Rebecca Wear Robinson