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Activists and popular educators have developed a number of interactive and visual tools that help groups draw a picture or develop a map of power relations—in society as a whole, in a state or region, or in a specific community. We have tried out a lot of these tools: force field analysis, community scanning, etc. One of our favorites is a power mapping activity that we have adapted from our partners in STEP’s pilot year, the Environmental and Economic Justice Project (EEJP).
The power mapping process enables participants to do their own analysis of power relations in their region (which may be a community, a county, a state or multi-state), and to connect it to power relations on national and global levels. Mapping builds off of participants’ knowledge of their own towns, counties, and states. The end product is something that they create collectively. In most cases, groups will find immediate applications for the maps that emerge from the session. This kind of analysis provides a context for developing long-term strategies for shifting power.
This activity is a good way to motivate a discussion about power and the need to develop more effective power-building strategies. Participants look at the ways in which the national political agenda has shifted to the right over the past 40 years. These shifts have occurred as a result of organized power – especially, the strategic use of infrastructure (2nd face) and ideas (3rd face) over time and in ways that impact first-face arenas – legislatures, courts, agencies, etc. The activity also reinforces a sense that agendas are not set in stone.
Because we have so many negative experiences with power, we need to look at these and examine them in order to imagine the more positive ways that we can create and use collective power for social change. Here are two very basic and introductory activities that get people comfortable talking about power. These activities should be used before introducing the framework of the three faces of power. Note: a good handout for these activities is Expressions of Power.
Here we have included three different ways that we introduce the three faces in workshops. They combine some presentation with more interactive elements. The third example involves physical representations of power, reminiscent of political theatre. This activity is followed by a few photos of the kinds of representations that we have been able to capture.
We developed this activity for the Midwest Progressive Elected Officials Network (MPEON). It is designed to name and address the challenges inherent in working in a first-face arena, where progressives are not in control of the agenda or the terms of the debate. Progressive officials and their allies struggle with the need to be effective within the short-term and limited legislative arena while also finding spaces and creating opportunities to push beyond short-term constraints. The scenarios bring together elected officials and progressive activists.