Snapshot

A simple, defiant gesture (say, thousands of stone-broke people turning their pockets inside-out as they go about their day) can bring economic inequality to the surface and make oppressive institutions panic.

Always bear in mind that the people are not fighting for ideas, for the things in anyone’s head. They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children.

— Amilcar Cabral

Poverty — and the suffering that comes with it — can often remain invisible. Likewise, wealth can be hidden in offshore bank accounts or through the manipulation of trusts. A simple, yet defiant gesture that makes this economic inequality visible — and helps overcome the stigmas associated with it — can quickly scale up to include thousands of people. Such a gesture is most likely to spread and succeed when it’s public, symbolically powerful, easy to replicate, and visually striking (see: PRINCIPLE: Make the invisible visible).

In 2017, Zimbabwe faced a severe cash crisis. Banks often had little or no money, and the withdrawal limit was set at US$30, which especially affected rural dwellers who have no banks in their localities, and have to travel long distances to make cash withdrawals. Tired of this situation, members of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) decided to go to work with the inside of their pockets pulled out as part of a massive protest named #PocketsOut (#HomwePanze in the Shona language; and #IzikhwamaPhandle in the IsiNdebele language).

All of these public displays of inequality were low-risk, simple, and scalable.

This creative and low-risk tactic provided an avenue for thousands of others to easily join in, including a former government minister, musicians, and school children. The popularity of #PocketsOut forced the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to call for an emergency meeting with the Union and increase the weekly withdrawal limit to USD $300.

In a similarly harmless manner during the Arab Spring in 2011, and again in the 2018 anti-austerity national strike, protesters in Jordan held pita bread with phrases such as "where are you my dear" and “corruption = poverty” written on it to exhibit how unaffordable basic goods, such as bread, had become.

And in protests against high commodity prices in Kenya in 2011, activists affiliated to the “Unga (maize flour) Revolution” organized a series of demonstrations in which empty plates and spoons were carried to symbolize high prices that made food unaffordable for the majority.

All of these public displays of inequality were low-risk, simple, and scalable. They were rebellious in spirit, yet broke no actual law, enabling many more citizens to embrace them. Ironically, it was often the simplicity of these tactics (and their capacity to rapidly spread) that made the targets of the tactic panic (see: PRINCIPLE: Simple rules can have grand results).

Another approach to display economic disparity in a powerful and concentrated manner is through depicting it against a symbol of inequality (say, a corporate office) or a decision-making point such as a city hall (see: METHODOLOGY: Points of intervention). In 2018, homeless activists in Berkeley, California, established an encampment on the front lawn outside the City Hall demanding fair housing policies for all. Such encampments were seen across dozens of cities around the world from Vancouver to Dublin and beyond.