tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/political-rallies-28010/articlesPolitical rallies – The Conversation2023-12-14T13:37:55Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2181742023-12-14T13:37:55Z2023-12-14T13:37:55ZNigeria’s flamboyant aso ebi dressing style is popular - but it’s become a financial burden<p>Aso ebi – “family uniform” – is the Yoruba custom of people dressing alike for social events. The custom is rooted in kinship (ebi), an important aspect of Yoruba social life since precolonial times in what’s now south-west Nigeria. </p>
<p>Words like <em>molebi</em> (kinsmen) and <em>olori ebi</em> (head of the family) point to the importance of kinship in this culture. The saying <em>eni to so ebi e nu, apo iya lo so ko</em> literally translates as “whoever deserts his kinsmen straps on his/her shoulder a satchel of misfortune”. Aso ebi expresses these values visibly: uniform dressing is intended to reinforce unity and fraternity. </p>
<p>Historically, Yoruba kinsmen wore the aso ebi – usually specially chosen fabrics – during celebrations for group identification.</p>
<p>At first, inclusion and participation in uniform clothing for social events was restricted to blood relationship and mutual ancestry. As time went on, belonging to a group through uniform dressing extended beyond family circles.</p>
<p>From the early 20th century, aso ebi became more about the need to communicate <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Aso-Ebi-%3A-The-Dynamics-of-Fashion-and-Cultural-in-Ajani/29cda686a2d9600811366015789dea8f0a24c282?utm_source=direct_link">social worth</a>. My interviews with some elderly people in Ibadan revealed that, during this period, it was referred to as <em>ankoo</em> (uniformity) or <em>egbejoda</em> (group uniform). Blood ties became a less important consideration for participation.</p>
<p>Nowadays, aso ebi is a regular <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234690994.pdf#page=1">feature</a> at social events like weddings, funerals, birthdays, conferments and political rallies across Nigeria. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=ybH50nYAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">scholar</a> of costume in theatre, I’ve always been fascinated by the aso ebi custom. In theatre, costume helps tell a story, among other functions, and aso ebi is also a costume in the performance of a social event. </p>
<p>I wanted to know more about the modern aso ebi trends. Anecdotal evidence suggested that the practice was becoming something of a burden for some people. My <a href="https://journaljesbs.com/index.php/JESBS/article/view/1041">research</a> bore this out: I found that the financial burden of purchasing aso ebi was prominent among its perceived drawbacks and strengths alike. </p>
<h2>Aso ebi as costume</h2>
<p>In theatre and film, costume transforms actors into characters and depicts setting, culture, age and occupation. It tells the audience something about the character’s social class, economic worth and status in a hierarchy. Costume can project personal characteristics, deliberately or unwittingly. It can help depict relationships in a group.</p>
<p>In daily life, too, clothes give us nonverbal clues about their wearers. They reveal age, mood, sex, culture, social status, religion, occupation, political affiliation and so on. </p>
<p>At social events, participants can be regarded as performers as well as audience members. Wearing aso ebi, participants are able to play premeditated or spontaneous roles.</p>
<h2>Modern trends</h2>
<p>In the last few decades, aso ebi has been <a href="https://www.google.com.ng/books/edition/Aso_Ebi/E84qEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Aso+Ebi:+Dress,+Fashion,+Visual+Culture,+and+Urban+Cosmopolitanism+in+West+Africa&printsec=frontcover">embraced</a> by other ethnic groups in Nigeria and the diaspora. The trend has extended beyond the geographical and social landscape of the Yoruba people. </p>
<p>Part of the reason may be its propensity to add glamour and spectacle to events. But even more importantly, it may be due to its inclusion tendency, since it gives wearers a sense of involvement, seemingly excluding some non-wearers, thereby drawing social Lines at social events. </p>
<p>It is common for guests to wear identical fabrics like wax prints (Ankara), lace, brocade and other materials to events. </p>
<p>Planning and coordinating this wearing of uniforms at events has become quite a business. Usually, a celebrant chooses the fabric, determines the price and monopolises the sale to guests. Often the intention is to make a profit. Guests can’t haggle over the price and are expected to turn out in the fabric for the event, thereby creating the impression of solidarity and support for the celebrant. </p>
<p>Affordability and social integration have become more significant considerations, pushing kinship to the back seat.</p>
<h2>Beyond the glamour, the distress</h2>
<p>Despite the popularity of aso ebi, my <a href="https://journaljesbs.com/index.php/JESBS/article/view/1041">study</a> found that it is causing some distress. </p>
<p>I administered questionnaires to 270 Yoruba adults (135 men and 135 women) in Osun and Oyo states in south-western Nigeria, asking them about the challenges and merits of wearing aso ebi. Participants indicated whether they experienced any of a list of challenges such as cost, competition and issues of personal taste. The list of potential merits included boosting camaraderie and collective sense of purpose, and benefits to the producers of the uniforms.</p>
<p>The results showed that the main problem with aso ebi was the financial burden of having to buy the fabrics continuously. This stems from being obliged to attend social events and the tendency for reciprocity: “I bought your aso ebi, buy mine.” People end up with a large stock of fabrics and are limited in their ability to buy, store and wear their own clothes.</p>
<p>Another challenge is that buyers of aso ebi fabrics don’t have a choice or the option of bargaining, since it is non-negotiable. And the fabrics and uniforms are not always to the individual’s taste.</p>
<p>Participants also felt that aso ebi encouraged unhealthy flamboyant competition.</p>
<p>When they responded to the list of potential merits, they gave equal weight to aso ebi as a booster of social incorporation and cohesion, and as a source of economic value for individuals who make the fabrics.</p>
<p>The practice has been <em>commodified</em> to the extent that cohesion, equality and social egalitarianism may be taking a back seat. Aso ebi is fast becoming a point of dissension, segregating wearers. It has a propensity to create social gulfs, distancing wearers and placing them on different tiers of the same ladder.</p>
<p>However, according to my study findings, the benefits of aso ebi – like comradeship – still outweigh the challenges.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218174/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Olubukola Badeji is affiliated with a non-profit organisation.
Women Forward Innovative Development Initiative WFID. We are based in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Our aim is Women empowerment in order to alleviate poverty.</span></em></p>Aso ebi - colourful fabrics worn at social events in NIgeria - makes parties glamorous but the cost can also be burdensome.Susan Olubukola Badeji, Lecturer, Redeemer's UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1998322023-02-16T13:12:04Z2023-02-16T13:12:04ZTanzania is ruled with impunity – four key issues behind calls for constitutional reform<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510162/original/file-20230214-20-egw7ke.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tanzanian opposition politician Freeman Mbowe (left) flashes a victory sign at a public rally in January 2023.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Jamson/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tanzania’s president issued a <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/01/tanzania-president-hassan-lifts-the-blanket-ban-on-political-assemblies/">statement</a> in June 2016 announcing a ban on political rallies outside campaign periods. The ban was unconstitutional. </p>
<p><a href="https://rsf.org/sites/default/files/constitution.pdf#page=17">Article 20 (1)</a> of the constitution of Tanzania allows for public assembly. Other laws, such as the <a href="https://media.tanzlii.org/files/legislation/akn-tz-act-1992-5-eng-2019-11-30.pdf">Political Parties Act</a> and the <a href="https://www.tanzanialaws.com/principal-legislation/parliamentary-immunities-powers-and-privileges-act">Parliamentary Immunities, Powers and Privilege Act</a>, give political parties and politicians the right to conduct rallies. </p>
<p>Despite these laws, it took another <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/01/09/tanzania-ends-ban-political-rallies">presidential statement</a> in January 2023 to unban rallies. This illustrates the power of the president – even over the constitution. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tanzania-opposition-rallies-are-finally-unbanned-but-this-doesnt-mean-democratic-reform-is-coming-198436">Tanzania: opposition rallies are finally unbanned – but this doesn't mean democratic reform is coming</a>
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<p>Opposition parties and activists have noted that this great presidential power is a constitutional loophole. The Tanzanian constitution has proved to be weak in protecting itself. </p>
<p>A constitution can protect itself if it has clear checks and balances. With <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/interview-tundu-lissu-discusses-need-constitutional-reform-tanzania">imperial presidential powers</a>, the constitution gives the executive branch of government the upper hand over the two other branches of government: the judiciary and legislature. </p>
<p>Such powers – and their abuse – have led opposition parties and activists to <a href="https://theconversation.com/tanzania-must-face-up-to-calls-for-reform-if-it-wants-to-keep-the-peace-172967">call</a> for constitutional reviews. </p>
<p>There are four reasons driving the agitation for constitutional change in Tanzania: unfree and unfair elections; unchecked presidential powers; political impunity; and the skewed political arrangement between Tanzania and Zanzibar.</p>
<h2>Entrenching dominance</h2>
<p>Recent calls for constitutional change in Tanzania <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/109246/tanzania-whats-really-behind-ccms-refusal-to-change-the-constitution/">began in 2010</a>. A constitutional review commission was set up in 2012, headed by former prime minister <a href="https://www.taas-online.or.tz/members/view/hon-joseph-sinde-warioba">Joseph Warioba</a>. The commission drafted a report, and a constitutional review assembly was set up to debate it. </p>
<p>The review assembly was dominated by members of the ruling party, Chama cha Mapinduzi. They altered the Warioba report and proposed a draft constitution similar to the existing one. A coalition of opposition parties boycotted the process and it stalled. </p>
<p>Maintaining the same constitution has been the ruling party’s strategy. The current constitution facilitates <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/opinion/2022/2022-07/tanzanias-undemocratic-constitution-is-a-template-for-disaster.html">one-party dominance</a> by entrenching the party’s and president’s power. </p>
<p>Further review was stopped by president <a href="https://theconversation.com/tanzanias-john-magufuli-a-brilliant-start-but-an-ignominious-end-157092">John Pombe Magufuli</a>, who came into power in 2015. Magufuli rejected any calls for constitutional reforms – and acted in a way that disregarded the existing law.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tanzanias-john-magufuli-a-brilliant-start-but-an-ignominious-end-157092">Tanzania’s John Magufuli: a brilliant start but an ignominious end</a>
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<h2>Chasing change</h2>
<p>The four triggers for constitutional reform in Tanzania are related.</p>
<p><strong>1. Repeated unfree and unfair elections</strong> </p>
<p>In Tanzania, unfree and unfair elections began after the constitution was amended <a href="https://www.eisa.org/wep/tan5.htm">in 1992</a> to allow for multi-party elections. Since then, there have been six general elections. Each has been marred by accusations of an <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/jpola5&div=36&id=&page=">unlevel playing field</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/oct/29/tanzania-announces-election-winner-amid-claims-of-vote-rigging">rigging</a> and violence. The <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/11/1077292">2020 general election</a> was especially violent. </p>
<p>Constitutional reform is crucial to realise free and fair elections. This is because the composition of the electoral commission as provided for by the constitution is bound to be biased. The president, who is often the incumbent candidate and the chairperson of the ruling party, is responsible for appointing the executive director and commissioners of the commission. All election returning officers at the constituency level are also presidential appointees. </p>
<p>The consequence is that electoral officials are likely to be loyal to their appointing authority rather than to the ideals of free and fair elections. </p>
<p>Additionally, once the presidential vote has been announced, the constitution <a href="https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/news/1840340-5593992-b0yrsv/index.html">doesn’t allow for it to be challenged in court</a>. </p>
<p><strong>2. Unchecked presidential powers</strong> </p>
<p>Under the current constitution, the president of Tanzania has enormous power. He or she appoints senior officials in other branches of government and all heads of public institutions. This includes the chief justice, all other judges and the inspector general of police. The president also appoints the controller audit general, who audits government accounts. </p>
<p>Through loyalty, these appointees are likely to enforce the president’s statements even if they are unconstitutional. </p>
<p>Further, the president cannot be prosecuted as per <a href="https://rsf.org/sites/default/files/constitution.pdf#page=29">Article 46</a> of the constitution. The president is protected during and after their tenure in office. Such provisions promote impunity. </p>
<p><strong>3. Impunity</strong> </p>
<p>Impunity in Tanzania plays out where one group of people can do what they like politically, while another group – in particular opposition politicians – faces excessive exposure to an unjust system. </p>
<p>Trumped up charges against opposition leaders, activists and business people deemed critical of the president are popular tools for keeping critics silent. Such charges, facilitated by undemocratic laws, were used during Magufuli’s regime. Magufuli <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/17/tanzanian-president-john-magufuli-is-dead-vp">died in March 2021</a> and was succeeded by Samia Suluhu Hassan.</p>
<p>In the early days of Hassan’s administration, in July 2021, Freeman Mbowe, the leader of the opposition party Chadema, was <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/31/tanzania-opposition-leader-freeman-mbowe-appears-in-court-to-face-charges">arrested and charged</a> with terrorism offences. Due to political pressure – and a failure to find evidence – the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-60616800">charges were dropped</a>. Mbowe spent eight months in jail.</p>
<p>After his release in March 2022, Hassan <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/tanzania-frees-detained-opposition-leader-mbowe-drops-charges-citizen-newspaper-2022-03-04/">expressed her determination</a> to boost the country’s democracy. She has also expressed her resentment of the unjust political system and <a href="https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/national/massive-fraud-at-the-dpp-s-office-as-plea-bargain-money-stashed-away-in-china-4106530">called out corruption</a> at the office of public prosecutions. </p>
<p>But presidential sentiments like these are not adequate as they don’t lead to institutional changes in political structures or norms. </p>
<p><strong>4. The Tanzania-Zanzibar agreement</strong> </p>
<p>This is arguably the most contentious trigger for calls for constitutional reform. </p>
<p>The political relationship between the island of Zanzibar and the mainland, Tanzania, has raised calls for Zanzibari autonomy. The government of the United Republic of Tanzania deals with union matters, as well as all mainland issues. The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar deals with the matters of Zanzibar only. </p>
<p>Opposition leaders have argued that the constitution and this current structure increase the ruling party’s influence in Zanzibari politics. Constitutional debate on this issue is often around <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/45342101">four proposed structures</a>: one joint government, two governments, three governments (with the union being the <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/zanzibar-mourns-the-advocate-of-three-tier-system-of-government--1354218">third tier</a>), or a confederation with a central authority. </p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>The underlying call for constitutional reform seeks to uproot the one-party state system to allow for accountability and democratic progress in Tanzania. Under the current constitution, any pronouncements of change are cosmetic, with no sustainable effects. </p>
<p>For Tanzania to realise real and sustainable democracy, a new constitution is necessary.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199832/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aikande Clement Kwayu has previous received funding from various academic and research institutions. She has volunteered at CHADEMA. </span></em></p>Tanzania’s six-year ban on political rallies shows how the president’s power can override the constitution.Aikande Clement Kwayu, Independent researcher & Lecturer, Tumaini University MakumiraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1987932023-02-03T12:35:22Z2023-02-03T12:35:22ZSamia Suluhu Hassan is reforming Tanzania – it’s winning her fans but boosting the opposition<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507876/original/file-20230202-7246-ndbz5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A series of political manoeuvres by Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan have set the east African country on an unfamiliar, yet hopeful, political path. Since her elevation to the presidency two years ago following the death of John Pombe Magufuli, the new president has struck a reformist political tone and led reconciliation with a previously marginalised opposition. None of this would have been possible under Magufuli.</p>
<p>Magufuli not only <a href="http://democracyinafrica.org/remembering-not-to-forget-tanzanias-2020-general-elections/">stifled</a> the opposition, but also went as far as threatening to <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/unfinished-business-magufulis-autocratic-rule-tanzania">annihilate</a> it. Hassan has made several reforms, including reconciliation talks between the government and the opposition. Her government also <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/02/17/tanzania-ends-ban-four-newspapers#:%7E:text=Tanzania's%20Minister%20for%20Information%2C%20Nape,Mwanahalisi%2C%20and%20Tanzania%20Daima%20newspapers">lifted the ban on newspapers</a>. </p>
<p>Hassan has made a significant break from her predecessor. There was little civic and political space under the late president. There was violent crackdown on the opposition and the media. </p>
<p>Hassan has placed strong emphasis on <a href="https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/oped/president-samia-s-letter-to-tanzanians-on-30-years-of-multi-party-democracy-3866168">reconciliation, resilience, reform and rebuilding</a>. She has reversed most of her predecessor’s retrogressive policies. For example, she has <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/samia-allows-student-mothers-back-in-class-3630190">ended the ban</a> on pregnant schoolgirls in classrooms. She has also <a href="https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/national/samia-s-key-role-in-tanzania-s-new-positive-outlook-3979584">opened up</a> the country to foreign investments. </p>
<p>Her most recent initiative was to <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/tanzania-president-lifts-ban-on-opposition-political-rallies-4074510">lift the ban</a> on political rallies and activities. Magufuli <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/magufuli-criticised-as-tanzania-bans-rallies--1351138">banned</a> opposition political rallies and activities in 2016. The unconstitutional move came at a time when the main opposition party – Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) – was planning nationwide rallies to protest Magufuli’s repressive and authoritarian rule. </p>
<p>A year ago, Hassan <a href="https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/national/samia-holds-face-to-face-talks-with-opposition-leader-tundu-lissu-in-brussels-3719462">met exiled opposition figure Tundu Lissu</a> in Brussels, and he has returned home. She went on to play a role in the release of Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe, who had been in prison for 18 months facing terrorism charges. </p>
<p>Alongside the reforms, Hassan used her first full year in office to consolidate her political base. She seems to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/tanzania-is-getting-a-political-remake-as-president-hassan-eyes-the-2025-polls-177761#comment_2747653">carefully strategising</a> her reforms with the 2025 elections in mind. All her actions to remake Tanzania’s political landscape <a href="https://theconversation.com/tanzania-is-getting-a-political-remake-as-president-hassan-eyes-the-2025-polls-177761">need to be seen in the light of those elections</a>. She will go into the election as a clear favourite. </p>
<p>But the reforms are a double-edged sword for the president. They have endeared her to many, but also breathed new life into the opposition. </p>
<h2>Hassan’s power game</h2>
<p>Hassan moved quickly to consolidate her base after the death of Magufuli in 2021. On the anniversary of her ascent to the top office, she spoke about the difficulties she had endured during the transition. She observed that her “rivals” had already begun plotting for the 2025 elections. </p>
<p>To strengthen her base, she brought back into the fold people who had been sidelined by Magufuli. One was former president Jakaya Kikwete. She also made several changes in her cabinet and the governing structures. </p>
<p>Another part of her 2025 game plan has been the overtures she’s made to the opposition. Having served as Magufuli’s vice-president, she understands the intricate political games needed to win an election. </p>
<h2>Reform agenda</h2>
<p>In December 2021, Hassan set up a <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/tanzania-taskforce-supports-lifting-of-political-rallies-ban-3993398">taskforce on political reform</a> and democracy. It met with political stakeholders and drew up a set of key policy proposals: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>political parties should be allowed to conduct public rallies and hold internal meetings </p></li>
<li><p>an independent electoral body, free from interference from the executive </p></li>
<li><p>presidential election results should be subject to challenges in court, as the African Court on Human and People’s Rights <a href="https://www.african-court.org/en/images/Cases/Judgment/Appl.%20018%20-%202018%20-%20Jebra%20Kambole%20-%20Judgment.pdf">ruled in July 2020</a> </p></li>
<li><p>the Political Parties Act should be reformed to allow more political participation for women and special groups, such as persons with disabilities. </p></li>
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<h2>Divisions over the constitution</h2>
<p>The next hurdle for Hassan is addressing <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/katiba-is-a-must-says-tanzania-warioba--3471688">discontent over constitutional reform</a> and policy priorities. Her recent taskforce recommended completing the stalled constitution review process initiated eight years ago. After the 2014 review, a <a href="https://constitutionnet.org/vl/item/proposed-constitution-tanzania-sept-2014">proposed constitution</a> was passed, awaiting referendum. </p>
<p>Opposition politicians are opposed to the content of the proposed constitution. They are pushing for an earlier <a href="https://theconversation.com/tanzanias-hassan-faces-her-first-political-test-constitutional-reform-165088">draft constitution</a> spearheaded by constitutional reformist judge Joseph Warioba, terming it the people’s constitution.</p>
<p>The ACT-Wazalendo party is also pushing for the creation of an independent electoral commission before a new constitution. Chadema continues to push for a new constitution as the panacea for Tanzania’s development. </p>
<p>Hassan has demonstrated political skill and tact well beyond her two years’ experience as the country’s leader. Her stand on a new constitution remains tepid. She previously stated that her <a href="https://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00078586.html">priority was the economy</a> and the constitution would come later. But it would not be surprising to see her meet the opposition halfway on their demands for a new constitution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198793/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicodemus Minde does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Tanzanian president’s reform drive has endeared her to the populace but will also embolden opposition to her political ambitions.Nicodemus Minde, Adjunct Lecturer, United States International UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1984362023-01-26T11:33:35Z2023-01-26T11:33:35ZTanzania: opposition rallies are finally unbanned – but this doesn’t mean democratic reform is coming<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506142/original/file-20230124-12-e1tmt0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supporters of Tanzania's main opposition party Chadema wave during a rally in Mwanza. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Jamson/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Tanzania, the political rally is back. Chadema, Tanzania’s leading opposition party, <a href="https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/national/chadema-paint-mwanza-blue-red-and-white-on-first-rally-since-ban-lifted-4093998">held mass rallies</a> outside the official election campaign for the first time in six and a half years on 21 January 2023. </p>
<p>It could do so because three weeks earlier, President Samia Suluhu Hassan <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/tanzania-president-lifts-ban-on-opposition-political-rallies-4074510">lifted the ban</a> on public rallies. Assassination-attempt survivor and opposition politician <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54484609">Tundu Lissu</a> returned to Tanzania on 25 January to take part in them.</p>
<p>The ban on rallies was introduced in June 2016 by the late President John Magufuli. It became a central plank of an <a href="https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/tanzania-the-authoritarian-landslide/">authoritarian turn</a> initiated by the ruling party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), but ultimately propelled by Magufuli. The ban, however, appeared to affect only the opposition – CCM continued to convene rallies with impunity throughout. </p>
<p>Magufuli’s death on 17 March 2021 raised the dual possibilities that the CCM regime might loosen its iron grip, and that in such a context, the opposition might rebuild. The end of the ban on rallies has implications for both these possibilities.</p>
<p>I have spent 10 years researching <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/ady061">Chadema’s grassroots organising</a> and what it calls <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2022.2150759">the struggle for democracy</a>. I am writing a book on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161219847952">rallies in Tanzania</a>.</p>
<p>In my view, the unbanning of rallies will tremendously alter the space in which the opposition has to operate. However, this doesn’t set Tanzania on any path of democratic reform. The timing and wider context still leaves the opposition with a big task ahead. </p>
<p>The very real possibility remains that Hassan has unbanned rallies to <em>signal</em> that she plans future democratic reforms – without actually enacting any.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tanzanias-hassan-has-put-out-positive-signals-deeper-change-is-yet-to-come-180704">Tanzania's Hassan has put out positive signals: deeper change is yet to come</a>
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<h2>A culture of rallies</h2>
<p>It’s easy to underestimate the importance of the rally in Tanzania. In much of the global north, political rallies are things seen on TV and attended by ultra-partisans. But not in Tanzania.</p>
<p>In 2015, I oversaw the collection of a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161219847952">nationally representative survey in Tanzania</a>. It showed that in the last month of the country’s election campaign, 69% of all people attended rallies. This figure dwarfs its equivalents in the global north. In the 2016 US campaign, just <a href="https://electionstudies.org/data-center/">7% of people</a> attended public meetings.</p>
<p>Not only did a large proportion of Tanzanians attend rallies. They also attended them frequently. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161219847952">same survey data</a> showed that the average person attended seven such rallies in the last month of the campaign, or just under one every four days. </p>
<p>In Tanzania, the rally is, or in political campaigning becomes, a medium of mass communication, just as it does across <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161219847952">much of the global south</a>. Indefinitely banning rallies does to public communication in Tanzania what indefinitely banning television, or the internet, would do in the global north. </p>
<p>Tanzania’s <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/magufuli-criticised-as-tanzania-bans-rallies--1351138">ban on rallies</a> was doubly painful for the opposition. First, it was a ban, in effect, only on opposition rallies. </p>
<p>Second, the opposition needs rallies in a way that the ruling party does not. In the shadow of state coercion, media outlets offer the opposition scarce and hostile coverage. The rally offers the opposition a way to reach the <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/publication/summary-results-afrobarometer-round-8-survey-tanzania-2021/">73% of Tanzanians</a> who say they don’t (directly) get news via social media. </p>
<h2>Rallies and grassroots organising</h2>
<p>The ban on rallies was lifted for the election campaign in 2020, but the opposition needs rallies between elections too – this is when they organise.</p>
<p>Chadema leaders and activists <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13540688211041034">told me</a> that between 2007 and 2015, they founded party branches across much of Tanzania. Their work paid off. The <a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article-abstract/118/473/692/5250960">survey data I collected</a> showed that in the 2015 campaign, Chadema’s ground campaign was so strong that it made at least as many house-to-house visits as the ruling party, perhaps more.</p>
<p>They achieved this party-building feat in large part through rallies. Teams of party leaders toured the country convening rallies. They imparted their messages and recruited attendees. Follow-up teams organised these new recruits into branches.</p>
<p>In parallel, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688211041034">lone organisers</a> ran their own solo party-building initiatives. These local leaders, among them the 2020 presidential candidate <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54484609">Tundu Lissu</a>, held public meetings in villages. Incrementally, they recruited local activists who became the leaders of new branches. </p>
<p>Today, though, it’s hard to know how well these structures have endured. Opposition activists were subjected to everyday oppression. It peaked during <a href="https://democracyinafrica.org/remembering-not-to-forget-tanzanias-2020-general-elections/">the violence of the 2020 election</a>, and was designed to <a href="https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/tanzania-the-authoritarian-landslide/">demoralise and demobilise them</a>.</p>
<p>This means that opposition parties have their work cut out. They have to re-join public debates after years of censorship, and reorganise and remotivate their supporters all at once.</p>
<p>This makes the timing of the end of the ban important. </p>
<p>Chadema’s grassroots organising for the 2015 election began just months after the 2010 election. Revoking the ban now, just over two and a half years before the October 2025 election, leaves opposition parties with a greater task than they have faced before – and less time in which to do it.</p>
<h2>President Hassan: reforming or gaslighting?</h2>
<p>Unbanning the rally is perhaps the most concrete opening of political space that <a href="https://theconversation.com/tanzanias-hassan-has-put-out-positive-signals-deeper-change-is-yet-to-come-180704">Hassan has introduced</a> since she was sworn in as president.</p>
<p>Some will be tempted to read the unbanning of the rally as a sign of things to come. But that would be unduly optimistic.</p>
<p>It <em>may</em> be that Hassan plans to enact a wider programme of democratic reforms. Or it may be that she lifted the ban precisely so that it <em>looks</em> like that’s her plan.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tanzanias-hassan-faces-her-first-political-test-constitutional-reform-165088">Tanzania's Hassan faces her first political test: constitutional reform</a>
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<p>Ultimately, either reading could turn out to be right. Interpreting the intentions of the often inscrutable Hassan is a matter of guesswork. But there are reasons to be sceptical. </p>
<p>First, the rally ban was part of an authoritarian architecture. The ban is gone, but the architecture remains. This leaves the regime with means aplenty to preserve its dominance. </p>
<p>Second, with the exception of the Magufuli years, the regime has long maintained the appearance of being the sort that would oversee democratic reforms – while implementing few of them.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/oped/of-political-rallies-and-a-new-constitution-4087284">significance</a> of the rally’s return may not be in what the regime will grant. Instead, it may be in what the opposition can demand. Chadema used its first rally to call again for a new constitution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198436/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Paget does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After years of censorship, opposition parties have to – all at once – rejoin public debates, reorganise and remotivate demoralised supporters.Dan Paget, Lecturer in Politics, University of AberdeenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1728672021-12-01T06:07:16Z2021-12-01T06:07:16Z500,000 or 20,000? How to estimate the size of a political rally properly<p>Mining magnate Clive Palmer created controversy last week when he <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/10k-20k-half-a-million-when-it-comes-to-crowds-size-is-everything-20211125-p59c3j.html">claimed</a> on ABC Radio that 500,000 people had attended the COVID “freedom” protest in Melbourne on Saturday November 20. Maverick MP Craig Kelly opted for the marginally more modest “<a href="https://twitter.com/CraigKellyMP/status/1460754227769212930?s=20">tens of thousands of people as far as the eye could see</a>”. The <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-27/melbourne-protests-thousands-mandate-pandemic-march-cbd/100656014">official police estimate</a> was 20,000.</p>
<p>Crowd sizes have often been bones of contention. Donald Trump’s US presidency was bookended by competing claims over the size of his inauguration crowd in January 2017, and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-is-difficult-if-not-impossible-to-estimate-the-size-of-the-crowd-that-stormed-capitol-hill-152889">number of rioters</a> who stormed Capitol Hill after his electoral defeat four years later.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-is-difficult-if-not-impossible-to-estimate-the-size-of-the-crowd-that-stormed-capitol-hill-152889">It is difficult, if not impossible, to estimate the size of the crowd that stormed Capitol Hill</a>
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<p>But why are crowd sizes so apparently open to interpretation? And what’s the most accurate way to estimate them?</p>
<p>Modern crowd-size estimation techniques are typically based on the <a href="https://qrius.com/estimating-crowd-sizes-math/">Jacobs Method</a>, invented by Herbert Jacobs in the 1960s. Jacobs, who was a journalism professor at the University of California, Berkeley, was watching Vietnam War protesters outside his office window, and noticed they were standing on a paved pattern of repeating squares. He counted the students in a few squares, and calculated the average number of students per square, or crowd density. Then he simply multiplied the number of squares by the density to estimate the size of the crowd. </p>
<p>From his observations, he found that in a light crowd each person takes up about 10 square feet (0.93 square metres), whereas in a denser crowd each person occupies less than half this space. In the most densely packed crowds, each person occupies just 2.5 square feet (0.23 square metres) – referred to by researchers as “mosh-pit density”. </p>
<p>This is considered an upper limit to crowd density, because it is not physically possible for a person to occupy less space. Hence, any crowd estimate that assumes a density higher than that of a mosh pit can be safely discarded.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Crowd density simulation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434686/original/file-20211130-17-1uh49hw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434686/original/file-20211130-17-1uh49hw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434686/original/file-20211130-17-1uh49hw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434686/original/file-20211130-17-1uh49hw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434686/original/file-20211130-17-1uh49hw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434686/original/file-20211130-17-1uh49hw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434686/original/file-20211130-17-1uh49hw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Simulation of a crowd density of two people per square metre.</span>
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<p>This basic principle is used by some <a href="https://www.mapchecking.com/">online tools</a> to estimate and factcheck the number of people standing in a given area. Instead of counting squares, the total area is multiplied by the density to calculate the crowd size estimate. For example, the crowd size in the highlighted section of the Melbourne map below is estimated to be 26,050, based on a density of two people per square metre (we’ll come to how to estimate crowd density in a moment). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Map of Melbourne protest route" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434685/original/file-20211130-23-773mid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434685/original/file-20211130-23-773mid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434685/original/file-20211130-23-773mid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434685/original/file-20211130-23-773mid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434685/original/file-20211130-23-773mid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434685/original/file-20211130-23-773mid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434685/original/file-20211130-23-773mid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Map showing the approximate area covered by the route from Victoria’s Parliament House to the junction of Bourke St and Swanston St in Melbourne.</span>
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<p>Although these tools give a decent rough estimate of the total crowd size, they assume a uniform distribution of a crowd across an area, which is not realistic. This method also fails to take into account the space taken up by street furniture, cars, trees, or other spaces not occupied by people.</p>
<p>People can bunch together or spread out for different reasons, including seeking shade on hot days or avoiding windy areas in colder months. This can be dealt with by assigning various probable densities to <a href="https://airphotoslive.com/">different sections on a map</a> with the help of aerial photos. Some consulting firms claim this method allows them to estimate crowds numbering in the tens of thousands to <a href="https://archive.curbed.com/2017/1/24/14357842/crowd-counting-marches-strike-protest">within 10%</a>. </p>
<h2>Estimating crowd density</h2>
<p>Estimating crowd density is crucial to producing a good overall estimate, but this technique is naturally prone to human error. In urban areas, CCTV footage can be used, or digital counting systems such as thermal cameras, although these are expensive if covering a large area. Crowd size can also be indirectly inferred from public transport usage, phone location data, mobile data networks, and social media activity, although this may depend on being able to access companies’ proprietary data.</p>
<p>Aerial photography is <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/%7Ersingle/JournalClub/papers/Watson+Yip-Significance-2011_CrowdSize.pdf">perhaps the best way</a> to estimate crowd density and size. While ground-based images provide limited views, aerial images offer a literal overview. Images can be collected via satellites, helicopters, balloons or drones (although drones can only be <a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/drones/drone-rules/flying-near-emergencies-and-public-spaces">operated by authorised entities in such public spaces</a>). A military satellite image was used to estimate that 800,000 people were present at Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration in 2009. </p>
<p>Having collected aerial images or video stills, there are <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1707.01202.pdf">various ways</a> to estimate how many people are within the frame, depending on the image quality and resolution. </p>
<p>AI algorithms can count people by recognising and counting the distinctive shape of humans, or even just their heads in denser crowds. Statistical methods can also be used to detect the independent motion of the people in the crowd. Or, if the crowd is too packed to count individuals, groups of people can be tracked.</p>
<h2>Marchers on the move</h2>
<p>It’s harder to estimate the size of a mobile crowd than a static one. The crowd density of a political march can vary significantly as people join and leave at various points along the route, and banners or placards can make people effectively invisible to crowd-detection algorithms. </p>
<p>Some researchers suggest using <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/%7Ersingle/JournalClub/papers/Watson+Yip-Significance-2011_CrowdSize.pdf">on-ground inspection points</a> where people are counted. The best estimates are likely to involve multiple complementary methods, such as direct counting, aerial and map-based imagery, and public transport data.</p>
<p>Of course, knowing the size of a crowd is about more than just earning bragging rights for politicians. It is a crucial part of crowd management and safety monitoring at large events such as sports fixtures and music concerts. </p>
<p>Aerial monitoring can also spot dangerous crowd congestion or unexpected behaviour, and first responders can be provided with an estimate of the number of people who may need help or treatment in the case of an emergency. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/astroworld-tragedy-heres-how-concert-organisers-can-prevent-big-crowds-turning-deadly-171397">Astroworld tragedy: here's how concert organisers can prevent big crowds turning deadly</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172867/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Image recognition algorithms, military satellites, and mobile data networks can all help estimate crowd sizes. But the underlying maths still comes down to a basic formula: density multiplied by area.Jumana Abu-Khalaf, Research Fellow in Computing and Security, Edith Cowan UniversityPaul Haskell-Dowland, Professor of Cyber Security Practice, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1077612018-12-21T11:41:55Z2018-12-21T11:41:55ZWhat Aristotle can teach us about Trump’s rhetoric<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251772/original/file-20181220-103634-18rnwu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Indiana.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Election-2018-Trump/c632ce2cb7554b7aa883af3beba8a58c/1/0">AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From Franklin D. Roosevelt’s <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-fireside-chats-roosevelts-radio-talks">fireside chats</a> to Ronald Reagan’s reputation as the “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/13/weekinreview/and-yes-he-was-a-great-communicator.html">great communicator</a>” to Barack Obama’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/magazine/the-speech-that-made-obama.html">soaring oratory</a> to Donald Trump’s <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/234509/deconstructing-trump-twitter.aspx">Twitter use</a>, styles of presidential communication have <a href="http://www.realclearlife.com/history/short-history-presidential-communication/">varied over time</a>. </p>
<p>But what is similar across all presidents is their ability to create persuasive messages that resonate with large segments of the U.S. population. </p>
<p>Whatever your opinion about Donald Trump, he is highly effective at doing this. The question is why, and how does he do it?</p>
<p>As someone who teaches <a href="https://www.umassd.edu/directory/aarrigo/">rhetoric and communication</a>, I am interested in how people connect with an audience and why a message resonates with one audience but falls flat with another. Whether intentional or not, Trump is using rhetorical strategies that have been around for more than 2,000 years.</p>
<h2>What makes something persuasive?</h2>
<p>There have been <a href="https://www.americanrhetoric.com/rhetoricdefinitions.htm">many definitions</a> of rhetoric over the past two millennia, but at its most basic level it is the practice and study of persuasive communication. It was first developed in ancient Greece, and arose from the need for people to defend themselves in law courts – a brand new invention at the time.</p>
<p>One of the world’s most influential thinkers in this regard was the ancient Greek philosopher <a href="https://www.iep.utm.edu/aristotl/">Aristotle</a>, who lived from 384 to 322 B.C. </p>
<p>Aristotle was a student of <a href="https://www.iep.utm.edu/plato/">Plato</a> and the teacher of <a href="https://www.ancient.eu/Alexander_the_Great/">Alexander the Great</a>. He wrote about philosophy, poetry, music, biology, zoology, economics and other topics. He also famously wrote about <a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/rhetoric.1.i.html">rhetoric</a> and came up with an elaborate and detailed system for understanding both what is persuasive and how to create persuasive messages.</p>
<p>To Aristotle, there were <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-rhetoric/#means">three main elements</a> that all work together to create a persuasive message: a person’s use of logic and reasoning, their credibility and their use of emotional appeals.</p>
<p>Aristotle wished that everyone could be persuaded with detailed logical arguments – what he called “<a href="http://rhetoric.byu.edu/Persuasive%20Appeals/Logos.htm">logos</a>.” However, that approach is often tedious, and, frankly, Aristotle felt most people weren’t smart enough to understand them anyway. Facts, documents, reasoning, data and so forth are all important, but those alone won’t win the day. So, he claimed, we need two other things – and this is where Trump excels: credibility and emotion.</p>
<h2>Trump: The credible leader</h2>
<p>Aristotle argues that someone’s credibility – or “<a href="http://rhetoric.byu.edu/Persuasive%20Appeals/Ethos.htm">ethos</a>” – is one of the elements that people find most persuasive. </p>
<p>However, he also said credibility is not a universal trait or feature. For example, a degree from Princeton gives you credibility only to someone else who has heard of Princeton, understands its cultural cachet and respects what it represents. The Princeton degree itself doesn’t give you credibility; it’s the perception of the degree by someone else that’s important.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251773/original/file-20181220-103676-1om3b2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251773/original/file-20181220-103676-1om3b2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251773/original/file-20181220-103676-1om3b2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251773/original/file-20181220-103676-1om3b2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251773/original/file-20181220-103676-1om3b2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251773/original/file-20181220-103676-1om3b2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251773/original/file-20181220-103676-1om3b2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251773/original/file-20181220-103676-1om3b2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Statue of Aristotle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/421724455?src=6ec55nL7wSQwZ4r94f8OUg-1-1&size=huge_jpg">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Aristotle also said that an important feature of credibility is to appear to have the audience’s best interest in mind by sharing and affirming their desires and prejudices, and understanding and amplifying their cultural values. In politics, the person who does the best job of this will get your vote.</p>
<p>So when Trump states that climate change <a href="https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jun/03/hillary-clinton/yes-donald-trump-did-call-climate-change-chinese-h/">is a hoax</a> or that the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/business/trump-calls-the-news-media-the-enemy-of-the-people.html">“news media is the enemy of the American people,”</a> what makes that effective for certain audiences has nothing to do with the truthfulness of those statements. </p>
<p>Instead, it’s because he’s channeling and then reflecting the values and grievances of his audience back to them. The closer he gets to hitting the sweet spot of that specific audience, the more they like him and find him credible.</p>
<p>Very often, politicians “evolve” or “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2012/10/03/162103368/how-politicians-get-away-with-dodging-the-question">pivot</a>” from a position that has earned them intense loyalty from a small group to a position they think will resonate with a larger group in order to get more supporters. This works for some people. But that’s not Trump’s strategy. </p>
<p>Instead, he goes all-in with his core supporters, establishing stronger bonds and identifying more closely with that group than someone with a more moderate message would. This also creates extremes on both sides: passionate supporters and intense detractors.</p>
<p>President Trump the communicator, then, has a laser focus on one particular segment of the population. He doesn’t mind if you don’t agree with him because he’s not talking to you anyway. His strategy is to continue nurturing his credibility with core supporters.</p>
<h2>Trump: The emotional leader</h2>
<p>Peppering your credibility with emotional appeals – what Aristotle calls “<a href="http://rhetoric.byu.edu/Persuasive%20Appeals/Pathos.htm">pathos</a>” – is particularly effective. As <a href="http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=GreekFeb2011&query=Arist.%20Rh.%201408a&getid=1">Aristotle once wrote</a>, “The hearer always sympathizes with one who speaks emotionally, even though he really says nothing.”</p>
<p>Anger, for example, is an emotion that a speaker can provoke in an audience by using real or perceived slights. In <a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/rhetoric.2.ii.html">Book 2</a> of his “On Rhetoric,” Aristotle writes that anger is an “impulse, accompanied by pain, to a conspicuous revenge for a conspicuous slight.” He details how an audience will channel their “great resentment” and revel in the “pleasure” of their expectation of “revenge” against those who have wronged them. </p>
<p>In another passage, he writes, “people who are afflicted by sickness or poverty or love or thirst or any other unsatisfied desires are prone to anger and easily roused: especially against those who slight their present distress.” </p>
<p>Using slights to channel and rouse anger is a near daily strategy that Trump has used against the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/05/the-chilling-effect-of-trumps-war-on-the-fbi/561218/">FBI</a>, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/28/business/media/trumps-attacks-news-media.html">news media</a>, the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/17/politics/donald-trump-robert-mueller-government-shutdown-obamacare/index.html">Mueller investigation</a> and other perceived enemies. </p>
<p>Anger over the slighting of one’s “present distress” also helps explain why, for example, Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comment was such a <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/clinton-trump-deplorables-2016-election_us_59b53bc2e4b0354e44126979">rallying cry</a> for Republicans. They didn’t like being dissed.</p>
<h2>Trump’s language style</h2>
<p>A speaker’s <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-rhetoric/#style">style</a> of language is also important. Trump is very effective with this, too. </p>
<p>Aristotle recommended that a speaker should first identify feelings that their audience already holds, and then use vivid language that resonates with that specific audience to intensify those emotions. Trump has repeatedly put this tactic to work, particularly at his <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/11/george-saunders-goes-to-trump-rallies">rallies</a>. </p>
<p>For example, Trump regularly invokes a familiar adversary, Hillary Clinton, at his rallies. By drawing on his audience’s known animosity toward her and <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/10/11/trump_savors_lock_her_up_chants_at_pa_rallies.html">encouraging them</a> in the “lock her up” chant, calling for her to be <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/358772-timeline-trump-calls-for-clinton-to-be-investigated">jailed</a> and describing her election night loss as “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/07/donald-trump-calls-hillary-clintons-concession-event-funeral/1224620002/">her funeral</a>,” he is using an <a href="https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2016/06/comparing-speaking-styles-clinton-and-trump-and-what-it-reveals-about-their-m/">aggressive style</a> of language that reflects and heightens the preexisting emotions of his audience.</p>
<p>The downside is that the more he uses language that is strongly incompatible with other groups, the more they dislike him. But that seems to be something Trump embraces, which only gives him even more credibility with his supporters.</p>
<p>Whether this approach is a smart electoral strategy in the future remains to be seen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony F. Arrigo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trump appeals to his base in a way that philosophers knew was effective thousands of years ago.Anthony F. Arrigo, Associate Professor, Writing Rhetoric and Communication, UMass DartmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/697622016-12-07T02:09:50Z2016-12-07T02:09:50Z‘Hail Trump’ salute recalls a powerful message of hate<p>During a Nov. 22 celebration of Donald Trump’s election triumph, members of a far-right organization, the National Policy Institute, <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/richard-spencer-speech-npi/508379/">were filmed</a> extending a stiff arm in the iconic “Heil Hitler” salute of Nazi Germany. Ensuring there would be no mistaking the gesture, National Policy Institute President Richard Spencer shouted, “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!”</p>
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<p>The video echoed, on a very small scale, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXST0wF5T4s">mass rallies</a> that were once held in Nazi Germany. Huge crowds with their arms raised “were an essential part of Nazi propaganda, designed to demonstrate public solidarity with the policies of the Nazi Party,” write Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell in <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/propaganda-persuasion/book239374">“Propaganda & Persuasion</a>.”</p>
<p>Two years ago, when I prepared slides on the Nazi salute for my rhetoric class on “The Art of Argument,” I had no idea that I would soon see that gesture reborn in the America political landscape.</p>
<p>Before the Nov. 8 election, the use of the Nazi salute by a fringe group might have been dismissed as a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmYIo7bcUw">“Springtime for Hitler”</a> moment, something too outrageous to be taken seriously, as satirized in “The Producers” <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063462/">movie</a> and Tony-winning Broadway <a href="http://broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/producers.htm">musical</a>.</p>
<p>Post-election, the gesture represents something that demands serious attention. Historically, hand and arm gestures have had as powerful an impact as slogans or symbols. That Nazi salute should be considered in that context.</p>
<h2>History of gestures</h2>
<p>Certain gestures can send powerful rhetoric and cultural messages. There’s even an <a href="http://www.gesturestudies.com/">International Society for Gesture Studies</a> which promotes gesture studies worldwide. </p>
<p>Consider a common two-finger salute. During World War II, the two-finger salute of <a href="http://time.com/3880345/v-for-victory-a-gesture-of-solidarity-and-defiance/">“V for Victory”</a> gave courage to Allied troops. A similar gesture morphed into the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/from-churchill-to-libya-how-the-v-symbol-went-viral/2011/03/18/AFzPiYYB_story.html?utm_term=.d39cb938adde">peace sign</a>, a gesture of resistance and solidarity during the 1960s protests against the Vietnam War. Turn the V-sign palm facing in, and you have a <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2015/10/15/the_up_yours_gesture_looks_like_a_peace_sign.html">gesture</a> that is considered rude in the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>The Vulcan salute, adopted by actor Leonard Nimoy for the original “Star Trek” series, came from a Jewish blessing, and has become part of the American lexicon of gesture. After Nimoy’s death, <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/0228/A-sign-from-space-Live-long-and-prosper-Leonard-Nimoy-video">NASA astronaut Terry Virts</a> made the “Live Long and Prosper” sign while aboard the International Space Station and sent it to Earth via Twitter.</p>
<p>The current uproar over athletes kneeling during the National Anthem pales beside the outrage that greeted athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos when they each held aloft a black-gloved fist clenched in the “Black Power” salute during their <a href="http://time.com/3880999/black-power-salute-tommie-smith-and-john-carlos-at-the-1968-olympics/">medal ceremony</a> at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.</p>
<p>A three-fingered salute plays a key role in the book series “The Hunger Games.” According to narrator Katniss Everdeen, <a href="https://www.quora.com/Why-has-the-three-finger-salute-in-The-Hunger-Games-become-the-icon-of-resistance-even-though-it-means-showing-thanks-admiration-and-good-bye-to-a-loved-one">raising a hand with three fingers</a> extended is “an old and rarely used gesture [that] means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love.” In the book, the gesture becomes a sign of resistance.</p>
<p>Fiction became reality in May 2014, when three Thailand political activists protesting a coup held their hands up in a three-finger salute and were <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/world/asia/thailand-protesters-hunger-games-salute.html?_r=0">detained</a>. Thai authorities likely never heard of Katniss Everdeen, yet they knew a sign of rebellion when they saw it.</p>
<h2>As old as politics</h2>
<p>“Gestures are as old as politics itself,” <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2014-09-03/isis-sends-message">writes</a> Nathaniel Zelinsky in a Foreign Affairs article that probes the use of gestures employed by radical Islamists and other groups in Middle East. Zelinsky argues that we must pay attention to these hand signals as they “communicate complex political messages that Western observers have largely ignored.”</p>
<p>Gestures, he <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2014-09-03/isis-sends-message">notes</a>, including the Nazi salute, became especially important with the advent of mass media in the 20th century:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Consider what is perhaps the best-known example: Adolf Hitler’s fascist salute. In a single gesture, Hitler communicated the power of National Socialism, the obedience of German crowds, and his own role as a supreme leader. And because pictures of him saluting were printed in newspapers around the world, the symbol reached billions.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In Europe, the Nazi salute is so potent it can be considered <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/queen-nazi-salute-countries-where-gesture-is-illegal-10401630.html">hate speech</a>. To get around these laws, a controversial <a href="http://theconversation.com/why-dieudonnes-quenelle-gesture-poses-challenges-for-britain-and-france-22731">French comedian</a> created an inverted Nazi salute called the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-25550581">“quenelle,”</a> in which a stiff arm is held down, rather than up, and is interpreted as support of anti-Zionism. The gesture has spread across the internet through selfies, as <a href="http://www.jewishledger.com/2015/04/conversation-with-prof-gavriel-rosenfeld/">Gavriel Rosenfeld</a> explores in his book “Hi Hitler: How the Nazi Past Is Normalized in Contemporary Culture.”</p>
<p>Unlike in France, gestures may fall under First Amendment protection in the United States, affording protection to even Nazi salutes. The National Policy Institute may have taken advantage of this protection in that November meeting. Whether deliberate or not, Trump supporters have displayed a Heil Hitler-like gesture at more than one <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-right-hand-salute_us_56db50d8e4b03a405678e27a">Trump rally</a>.</p>
<p>The stiff-arm salute is not a trivial gesture. It is not <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/03/29/an-establishment-conservatives-guide-to-the-alt-right/">alt-right</a> so much as it is Third Reich redux, a revival of a dangerous ideology. Just consider the message from the National Policy Institute’s <a href="http://www.npiamerica.org">website</a>, which declares it is “dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent in the United States, and around the world.” It is not a stretch to compare this to the Nazi veneration of the supposed <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aryan">“Aryan”</a> or “ethnically pure” race. </p>
<p>Thus far, the president-elect has expressed more outrage over <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/22/13714604/donald-trump-twitter-hate-crime">the cast of “Hamilton”</a> addressing Mike Pence at the theater than neo-Nazis saluting in his name.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69762/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Schorow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The reboot of the Nazi salute should not be taken lightly, given its history of hatred and genocide.Stephanie Schorow, Adjunct Professor of Professional Writing, Regis College, Regis CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/639012016-09-27T08:57:23Z2016-09-27T08:57:23ZTrump slammed by musicians for appropriating music, but pop and politics have a long history<p>As the most fractious US election in living memory enters its final furlong, <a href="http://www.nme.com/news/u2/96591">Bono</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/sep/24/bruce-springsteen-calls-donald-trump-a-moron">Springsteen</a> are the latest music stars to launch broadsides at the Republican candidate. And they’re far from alone. Barbara Streisand lampooned Trump in <a href="http://www.nme.com/news/barbra-streisand/96343">performance</a> and in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/sep/22/barbra-streisand-donald-trump-hillary-clinton">print</a> while his rhetoric has attracted condemnation from <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/16/politics/music-latino-issues-2016-election-get-political/">Latino artists</a> and a <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/yg-talks-summer-protest-anthem-fdt-f--k-donald-trump-w437360">protest song</a> from rapper YG.</p>
<p>However, this time around the musical commentary is perhaps more vociferous than in previous elections and his divisiveness has run up against a wide array of musicians calling for a halt to his use of the pop and rock tunes that are a staple of campaigning.</p>
<p>REM set the tone during the primaries, slamming Trump’s “<a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/6692463/rem-donald-trump-end-world-unauthorized">moronic charade of a campaign</a>” for playing “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY">It’s the End of the World As We Know It</a>” at a rally. Other demurrals came from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/20/queen-protests-donald-trumps-we-are-the-champions-song">Queen</a>, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/elton-john-tells-donald-trump-dont-use-my-music/">Elton John</a>, the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36210829">Rolling Stones</a> and more. Being dead, it seems, is also no hindrance to cross-purposes with the Republican nominee. The estates of <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/george-harrison-estate-blasts-trumps-song-use-at-rnc-w430423">George Harrison</a> and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/arts/music/luciano-pavarotti-donald-trump-soundtrack.html">Luciano Pavarroti</a> described the use of their music as, respectively, “offensive” and “entirely incompatible with the world view offered by the candidate Donald Trump”.</p>
<p>Trump is also the latest in a long line of candidates whose campaign has <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-donald-trump-miserables-deplorables-20160910-snap-story.html">drawn on the soundtrack to Les Misérables</a>, despite its composers never endorsing political uses of their work.</p>
<h2>Electioneering</h2>
<p>There’s a longstanding association between popular music and political campaigns in the US. Campaign songs have been in play from <a href="http://www.folkways.si.edu/oscar-brand/presidential-campaign-songs-1789-1996/childrens-historical/music/album/smithsonian">George Washington’s time onwards</a>, gaining increasing prominence in the 20th century via mass media celebrity endorsements. The trend towards using pre-existing recordings, rather than specially written songs or familiar tunes with new lyrics, was given a fillip in the 1970s when <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxxvi">the 26th Amendment</a> reduced the voting age to 18 and it was <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/title/dont-stop-thinking-about-the-music-the-politics-of-songs-and-musicians-in-presidential-campaigns/oclc/753632432?page=citation">seen as a means of attracting younger voters</a>. This has sometimes been successful, where an agreement is reached with artists, as with Bill Clinton’s use of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop”. But more often it leads to the kinds of disavowal piled up around Trump’s campaign.</p>
<p>Rockers and pop stars are often more liberal leaning than their more conservative country counterparts, so the bulk of these have been against Republicans. But there have also been cases of artists not welcoming any political associations. Some have pulled the rug from under the Democrats, as <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080427151732/http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur41178.cfm">Sam Moore</a> did over Barack Obama’s use of “Hold on I’m Coming”. But as elections get into high gear campaigners looking towards the wider populace seek out classics and big hits with the widest appeal, pushing them towards the aesthetic centre and away from genres that appeal primarily to their political base.</p>
<p>The amorphously aspirational (or angry) tone of many rock and pop songs makes them seem, at first glance – without examination of the artist’s political orientation – apt for either side of a political divide. But this can lead to mismatches. In 1984, Bruce Springsteen disowned the Reagan campaign’s use of “<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-rolling-stone-interview-bruce-springsteen-on-born-in-the-u-s-a-19841206">Born in the USA</a>” – somewhat misguided in the first place since the lyrics of its pumping chorus are bitterly ironic anyway, as the song depicts the poor treatment of Vietnam veterans.</p>
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<h2>A legal matter</h2>
<p>The proliferation of complaints in recent years raises the question of what musicians can actually do to stop their songs appearing in campaigns. </p>
<p>Much depends on the context. Many objections refer to rallies and live events. There isn’t much legal comeback here though if the venues hold the requisite licenses for public use of recordings from the copyright collection agencies ASCAP and BMI. In many of these cases, cease and desist letters or similar warning shots are mostly a matter of making the artists’ disapproval and distance from the campaign a matter of public record. While legal protection in such instances isn’t cast-iron, it’s generally not worth the negative publicity for candidates to carry on once an artist has told them to stop. When <a href="http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1840981_1840998_1840937,00.html">Tom Petty</a> objected to George W Bush using “I Won’t Back Down”, for instance, Bush did just that.</p>
<p>There’s more scope for blocking if a song is used in an advert or promotional material on the internet, where a license is required and the campaign <a href="http://www.ascap.com/%7E/media/files/pdf/advocacy-legislation/political_campaign.pdf">needs permissions</a> from the song’s publisher and perhaps the artist’s record label. Depending on their deals, artists may have some leverage here. Certainly a failure to obtain permission is a breach of copyright and subject to legal recourse, as John McCain found out when <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/12717747/browne-v-mccain-complaint">Jackson Browne sued</a> over the appearance of his song “Running on Empty” in a campaign advert.</p>
<h2>Fair use?</h2>
<p>McCain’s team tried to claim the “<a href="http://www.musiclawupdates.com/?p=1873">fair use</a>” exemption to copyright on the grounds that its use of the song was minimal, not for commercial purposes and unlikely to damage Browne’s financial interests. But Browne had another strand to his case that could be applied more widely, even to campaign rallies – potential reputational damage. The “moral rights” of European copyright provision that offer protection beyond financial concerns aren’t particularly robust in US federal law, but Browne appealed to the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/lanham_act">Lanham Act</a>, a piece of trademark law that protects brands from misrepresentation or confusion arising in consumers due to misleading use. A similar piece of intellectual property legislation in some states, also cited by Browne, is the <a href="http://rightofpublicity.com/brief-history-of-rop">Right of Publicity</a>, protecting the property aspects of a person’s voice and image. </p>
<p>Ultimately, McCain conceded and settled, so although Browne was victorious, the legal minutiae weren’t tested in court. But the case illustrated both a potential opening for artists and peril for politicians willing to push the point. While other priorities on the campaign trail and fear of poor public relations tend to militate against this, the need for popular background music remains.</p>
<p>If politics – as Bill Clinton strategist Paul Begala said – is “<a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2010/12/who_says_washington_is_hollywo.html">showbusiness for ugly people</a>”, politicians are rarely shy of deploying the work of more straightforward entertainers to burnish their appeal. And as Trump appears impetuous in the face of legal challenges and contemptuous of bad publicity, the familiar sound of musicians crying foul looks likely to continue apace.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63901/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Behr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trump’s divisiveness has seen him run up against a wide array of musicians calling for a halt to his use of the pop and rock tunes.Adam Behr, Lecturer in Popular and Contemporary Music, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/610702016-06-23T10:05:36Z2016-06-23T10:05:36ZTrump’s dog whistle: the white, screwed-over sports icon<p>While <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sport-Stars-The-Cultural-Politics-of-Sporting-Celebrity/Andrews-Jackson/p/book/9780415221191">athletes and coaches</a> can be overlooked vehicles of political ideology, they often play key symbolic roles in the cultural and political life of any nation. Look no further than Muhammad Ali, whose recent death reminded us how an athlete can also stand up for racial justice and religious freedom.</p>
<p>In this year’s presidential race, one candidate has been especially eager to capitalize on the support of athletes and coaches. On June 11, at a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QhomID2IuM">crowed to his supporters</a> that Steelers star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had his back. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I love Big Ben. Do we love Big Ben? I just spoke with him, what a great guy. And he’s with us 100 percent. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The only problem? Roethlisberger reportedly told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ed Bouchette that <a href="https://sportsnaut.com/2016/06/ben-roethlisberger-will-not-endorse-acquaintance-donald-trump/">he hadn’t endorsed Trump and doesn’t plan on doing so</a>.</p>
<p>This wasn’t the first time Trump name-dropped a famous local sports hero to try to ingratiate himself with an audience. </p>
<p>Along with Roethlisberger, he has humble-bragged about friendships with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, former Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight and the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. He’s appeared at campaign events with Knight, NASCAR CEO Brian France and NASCAR drivers Bill and Chase Elliott. </p>
<p>Reportedly, Trump even wants to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/11/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-convention-sports-celebrities.html?_r=0">hold</a> a “winner’s evening” during the Republican convention that will showcase American athletes, because “our country needs to see winners… We don’t see winners anymore. We have a bunch of clowns running this country.”</p>
<p>So what, exactly, is Trump doing? Well, these sports figures all have one thing in common: They’re all white men. </p>
<p>As someone who has examined the racial and gender meanings embedded in media stories about sport stars, I’ve been fascinated by Trump’s repeated use of white male sports icons on the campaign trail – especially in a contemporary American sports landscape where people of color increasingly dominate the playing ranks.</p>
<p>Unlike other politicians’ use of sports stars when campaigning, Trump seems to be taking it a step further, using them as a way to “dog whistle” his support for white, male entitlement.</p>
<h2>Sports as presidential symbols</h2>
<p>For years, presidential candidates have attempted to connect themselves with sports or famous athletes to endear themselves to voters. </p>
<p>For candidates seeking to cultivate mass appeal – especially in an era of media fragmentation – there’s perhaps no better association to make. <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/183689/industry-grows-percentage-sports-fans-steady.aspx">Nearly 60 percent</a> of Americans call themselves sports fans, and almost 112 million <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/08/media/super-bowl-50-ratings/">tuned in for Super Bowl 50</a>.</p>
<p>In his book <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Leading_Men.html?id=MNcUfuPYeB4C">“Leading Men: Presidential Campaigns and the Politics of Manhood,”</a> masculinity scholar <a href="https://www.jacksonkatz.com/">Jackson Katz</a> has documented how American presidents and presidential candidates have long used sports metaphors – and even invented personal sporting histories – to try to endear themselves to the electorate.</p>
<p>Teddy Roosevelt loved to talk about how he followed boxing and college football, while Ronald Reagan drew his nickname – “The Gipper” – from his performance as Notre Dame football star George Gipp in the 1940 film “Knute Rockne, All American.” John F. Kennedy famously played vigorous games of touch football with family and, of course, Gerald Ford was a standout football player at the University of Michigan. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127765/original/image-20160622-7170-olgpsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127765/original/image-20160622-7170-olgpsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127765/original/image-20160622-7170-olgpsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127765/original/image-20160622-7170-olgpsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127765/original/image-20160622-7170-olgpsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127765/original/image-20160622-7170-olgpsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127765/original/image-20160622-7170-olgpsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gerald Ford was a star football player at the University of Michigan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gerald_Ford_on_field_at_Univ_of_Mich,_1933.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More recently, George W. Bush made Little League baseball games on the front lawn of the White House an annual event. Sarah Palin’s playing days as a high school point guard <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0809/13/se.03.html">were highlighted </a> when she was first introduced as John McCain’s vice presidential nominee. </p>
<p>And even though he made <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/weekinreview/06vannatta.html">an embarrassing attempt at bowling</a> to better connect with working-class white voters, President Barack Obama regularly talks about his love of basketball. He’s also made filling out NCAA March Madness basketball brackets on <a href="http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/14984934/president-barack-obama-chooses-kansas-jayhawks-win-tournament">ESPN</a> an annual event. </p>
<h2>On dog whistles</h2>
<p>But when it comes to Trump’s direct appeal to sports fans, there might be something more sinister at play.</p>
<p>Many have wondered whether Trump’s fiery rhetoric and policy proposals are simply <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/05/11/us/politics/where-trump-breaks-with-the-republican-party.html">a less filtered version of the usual Republican stances</a> or whether they signal a more dangerous <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-fascist-354690">proto-fascist</a>, <a href="http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/doandl-trump-face-fascism-home-and-abroad#.V168axYzGIQ.facebook">far right</a>, <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/08/21/the-plague-of-american-authoritarianism/">authoritarian</a> political turn.</p>
<p>But no one has addressed how Trump’s use of white sportsmen operates as an important “dog whistle” during his bid for the presidency.</p>
<p>According to UC-Berkeley law professor Ian Haney-Lopez, a “dog whistle” occurs when one makes a racial appeal to a targeted audience without explicitly mentioning race. </p>
<p>In his book “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/dog-whistle-politics-9780199964277?cc=us&lang=en&">Dog Whistle Politics</a>,” Haney-Lopez shows how American politicians – most often, Republicans – have used this sort of coded talk since the civil rights movement to appeal to white voters who fear that changes to American society have diminished their social status. Phrases like “<a href="http://www.citylab.com/politics/2015/09/the-long-ugly-history-of-law-and-order-candidates/405709/">law and order</a>,” “<a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2012/07/top-five-racist-republican-dog-whistles">states’ rights</a>,” “<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/23/politics/weflare-queen/">welfare queens</a>” and “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/09/17/romneys-theory-of-the-taker-class-and-why-it-matters/">the makers and the takers</a>” have been regularly used by politicians to stoke white fears without any explicit mention of race. </p>
<p>In Trump’s case, he may be using these white sportsmen as crucial symbols to connect voters with his political message.</p>
<h2>The racial undertones of Trump’s athletes</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/the-trumpian-coalition/481272">According to data</a> collected by the Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, “Trump’s core strength remained his advantage amongst men and non-college-educated whites.” </p>
<p>Trump taps into and cultivates the anger and angst of those white men who feel as though they’ve lost social standing relative to immigrants, LGBT individuals, women and people of color (<a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/topics/race-and-ethnicity/page/2/">despite all evidence to the contrary</a>). </p>
<p>Through his inclusion of white sports legends like Brady, Paterno and Knight in his campaign to “Make America Great Again,” Trump symbolically reveals how white men who are – in his vernacular – <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-tom-brady-suspension-deflategate-2015-9">“total winners”</a> constitute his vision for America’s future. </p>
<p>But these athletes and coaches aren’t just “winners.” They’re also each, in their own way, polarizing figures who have suffered falls. </p>
<p>Talk to fans of Knight, Paterno or <a href="http://thornography.weei.com/sports/boston/2015/07/29/5-arguments-youll-need-to-defend-tom-brady/">Brady</a> and they’ll rant about how their legacies have been tarnished by bureaucrats, ranging from university officials to the NFL’s commissioner’s office. </p>
<p>Listen more closely and you’ll hear, in coded form, a defense of white male entitlement. You’ll hear echoes of Trump’s belief that the country is now run by “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/12/09/donald-trump-says-were-all-too-politically-correct-but-is-that-also-a-way-to-limit-speech/">PC-police</a>” who have withdrawn institutional support for white men.</p>
<p>Recall how <a href="http://www.musicboxfilms.com/happy-valley-movies-115.php">Penn State students swarmed the streets of Happy Valley</a>, overturned cars and demonstrated vociferously when Penn State fired Paterno, despite his complicity in protecting assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, <a href="http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/06/jerry_sandusky_verdict_sandusk.html">who had been found guilty of 45 counts of child sexual abuse</a>.</p>
<p>Or Knight’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/sports/ncaabasketball/12hoosiers.html?_r=0">astonishment</a> when he was fired from his job as the basketball coach at Indiana University after decades of documented abusive behavior toward students, players, staff and administrators. (IU students also took to the streets and even issued <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=100606&page=1">threats</a> to Knight’s final accuser, an IU student himself.) </p>
<p>In both cases, Paterno, Knight and their devout supporters seemed unable to comprehend how a white male sporting legend was not entitled to a blank check of protection from an institution – perhaps even society writ large – because they were “winners” who had brought moments of joy to their communities. (Even <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2015/07/28/armour-tom-brady-deflategate-cover-up/30791437/">Brady</a> and <a href="http://steelerswire.usatoday.com/2015/07/07/steelers-ben-roethlisberger-crime-charges-legacy/">Roethlisberger</a> have also had their moments of notoriety.) </p>
<p>And Trump probably realizes that to his crowds, these sports icons evoke a version of white manhood – embattled, unapologetic, and uncompromising – that strongly resonates.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61070/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kyle W. Kusz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Politicians are often eager to embrace the support of sports stars. But when Donald Trump trots out a very specific type of athlete and coach at his events, who’s he really trying to appeal to?Kyle W. Kusz, Associate Professor of Cultural Studies of Sport/Media, University of Rhode IslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/599182016-06-02T15:02:48Z2016-06-02T15:02:48ZSouth Africa’s EFF: excellent politics of props and imagination<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124774/original/image-20160601-2812-195bg57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Economic Freedom Fighters recently launched their manifesto in Soweto. Party leader Julius Malema (waving) is the master of political theatre.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Cornell Tukiri</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With <a href="http://www.elections.org.za/content/Elections/2016-Municipal-Elections/Home/">local government elections</a> coming up in August 2016, South Africa’s biggest political parties recently launched their manifestos at mass rallies. The focal point was the stadium itself. Or, rather, the stadium become ἀμφιθέατρον (amphithéātron): a place for viewing politics from both sides.</p>
<p>An ancient philosophical quarrel is being rehearsed here. It is the quarrel on the uneasy relationship between truth and appearance, between rationality and feeling, that famously made Greek philosopher <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato/">Plato</a> expel the poets from his ideal city in his book, “The Republic”. It is what philosopher and cultural critic <a href="https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/benjamin/">Walter Benjamin</a> called the fascist tendency to aestheticise the political. </p>
<p>If there is a spectacular political party in South African at the moment, then it is the <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/economic-freedom-fighters-eff">Economic Freedom Fighters </a>(EFF). And whether we love or loathe them, we sure enjoy talking about their provocative use of colour, dress, insignia and general theatricality.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/the-coded-clothes-of-south-africas-economic-freedom-fighters/375366/">Dressed</a> for parliament in their red overalls and hard hats, and domestic worker’s uniforms and <em>doeks</em> (head-wrappings), the EFF distinguished themselves from their suit-and-tied political rivals by performing their politics as a politics for the dispossessed and marginalised. At rallies, their supporters proudly don the party’s red berets, which you can order <a href="http://effighters.org.za/merchandise">online</a>. They make for a powerful visual display that signals a militant and unapologetically confrontational yet disciplined political intent.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124786/original/image-20160601-1955-ajxg5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124786/original/image-20160601-1955-ajxg5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124786/original/image-20160601-1955-ajxg5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124786/original/image-20160601-1955-ajxg5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124786/original/image-20160601-1955-ajxg5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124786/original/image-20160601-1955-ajxg5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124786/original/image-20160601-1955-ajxg5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">MPs of the EFF outside South Africa’s parliament.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Nic Bothhma</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The meaning of the red berets</h2>
<p>What does the EFF’s <a href="http://repository.up.ac.za/dspace/bitstream/handle/2263/51821/Mbete_Economic_2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">political aesthetic</a> really signify though? Can we, for instance, read their signature red berets for a deeper insight into their politics? Or do these kinds of paraphernalia carry no actual political weight? </p>
<p>The answer to this question is the philosopher’s (perhaps infamous) “yes and no”. For it all, of course, depends on what we mean by “politics”, “aesthetic” and “significance”.</p>
<p>To cut a long conceptual elaboration short, however, let us look at one of the best ways to conceive of the relationship between the aesthetic and the political. It comes in the form of Paul Ricoeur’s <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10746-014-9339-8">philosophy of the imagination</a>.</p>
<p>The aesthetic and political dimensions of our lives intersect at the point where the social imagination does most of its work. That is the mechanism that makes the political bond we have with others available in the first place.</p>
<h2>The capacity to imagine</h2>
<p>A large part of our sociopolitical lives is necessarily imaginary. That is because we cannot engage in face-to-face interactions with all other selves in a nation-state or even a large town. Neither can we engage in face-to-face interaction with every institutionalised system of authority in large, complex human societies. </p>
<p>Our capacity to imagine allows us to travel mentally through time and space at extraordinary speed and in surprising depth. This is possible, says Ricoeur, only because of the imagination’s capacity for active mediation. In other words: its ability to produce “works” that we can decipher; “props” that we can play with.</p>
<p>In the case of political aesthetic, the sociopolitical imaginary gifts us with the props of “ideology” and “utopia”. Those are two works of the imagination that present us with imaginative variations on the theme of citizenship. </p>
<p>As political animals, the fulfilment and dissatisfaction of our needs hinge upon the versions of citizenship that are available to us. It is the figure of the citizen who alone truly contests and receives social recognition; the genuine citizen alone who contests and receives (re)distributed economic and legal benefits and rights.</p>
<p>The political reality of citizenship mediated by the political imaginary can take an “ideological” form. Through this form the inclusion of certain people as citizens is strengthened and systems of authority legitimised. It can also take a “utopian” form, through which the exclusion of certain people as citizens is questioned and systems of authority delegitimised.</p>
<h2>A prop in a serious adult game</h2>
<p>The red beret is a prop in this very serious adult game. Just like any prop, its significance is therefore inextricably tied to the game itself. </p>
<p>In the game of “figuring” South African citizenship, the EFF gives us a political aesthetic that makes those people who have actually been excluded from full citizenship visible and audible. Their “improper” <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Dont-tell-us-what-to-wear-EFF-tells-Parliament-20151005">dress</a> in parliament says: imagine me, the miner, and me, the maid, as a real citizen, equal to any other, with equal political significance to any member of parliament. How dare anyone, and especially the ruling ANC, proclaim that the black labourers on whose backs this country was built are “improper” in the house of parliament?</p>
<p>Criticising the EFF’s parliamentary insignia for not being decorous enough thus entrenches the major divide characterising South Africa post-apartheid. There are the few for whom democracy brought or further fortified full citizenship. Then there are the majority for whom the right to vote has yet to give them access to all the benefits and rights of citizenship proper.</p>
<p>More than two decades after the official end of apartheid, the <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2014/06/27/OPINION-Africa-Check-SAs-unemployment-rates">broad unemployment rate</a> hovers at close to 40%, while more than half of all South Africans’ monthly income falls below the upper-bound poverty line.</p>
<p>To counter this stalemate, the EFF uses its political aesthetic to draw on <a href="http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-05-02-eff-manifesto-a-radical-reinvention-of-ancs-failed-cadre-deployment-policy/#.V070Efl97IU">imaginaries</a> of war, battle, masculinity and militancy. This says, “imagine us as those who are no longer helpless, those who no longer talk but do.” And against an ageist, patriarchal tradition, “imagine us no longer as boys, but as men who are ready to lead.”</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124778/original/image-20160601-1923-1jsiher.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124778/original/image-20160601-1923-1jsiher.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124778/original/image-20160601-1923-1jsiher.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124778/original/image-20160601-1923-1jsiher.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124778/original/image-20160601-1923-1jsiher.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124778/original/image-20160601-1923-1jsiher.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124778/original/image-20160601-1923-1jsiher.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">EFF leader Julius Malema leaves parliament with his party MPs after disrupting President Jacob Zuma State of the Nation address on February 11 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Schalk van Zuydam</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then there is also, of course, the EFF’s general theatricality. Theirs is a type of theatricality that is finely choreographed – bitingly rude when speaking truth to power and perfectly poised when presenting their claims to authority as the truth.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/julius-sello-malema">Julius Malema</a>, the party’s commander-in-chief, can interrupt parliamentary proceedings. He can threaten the state with violence, and make rude jokes and comments about other politicians. He can do this while simultaneously exhorting his followers to remain disciplined, to <a href="http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-10-28-eff-marches-this-isnt-a-mickey-mouse-organisation/#.V072pfl97IU">march without violence</a>, or even much display of any emotion whatsoever, to major centres of capital and economic power in Johannesburg.</p>
<p>As they delegitimise current systems of power, they leave their parliamentary stage in <a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/stnews/2016/05/18/IN-PICTURES-Fists-fly-as-EFF-ejected-from-Parliament">chaos</a>. As they legitimise their incumbent system of political rule, they fill an entire stadium with disciplined bodies dressed in uniform.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zH1ZIumH96s?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">EFF leader Julius Malema taking on President Jacob Zuma in parliament.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A new social order</h2>
<p>We can say, then, that the EFF is presenting us with a utopian imaginary through which the possibility of a new social order emerges in force. This is excellent politics. Yet, there is still – and always will be – a gap between possibility and actuality. Ricoeur speaks of the “<a href="http://culture.pl/en/article/paul-ricoeur-a-political-paradox">political paradox</a>”, or the inescapable fact of power and its intertwinement with rationality. </p>
<p>The positive function of the utopian imaginary becomes sick as soon as it deludes itself with the impossible dream of a social order without any form of exclusion, and no systems of power. Authoritarianism and oppression are therefore not alien to utopianism. The apartheid state’s utopian projection of a separate-but-equal multiracial society, for instance, is synonymous today with racial hatred and oppression instead. And so are most of the various communist utopias around the globe.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124781/original/image-20160601-1951-yw0msw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124781/original/image-20160601-1951-yw0msw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124781/original/image-20160601-1951-yw0msw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124781/original/image-20160601-1951-yw0msw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124781/original/image-20160601-1951-yw0msw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124781/original/image-20160601-1951-yw0msw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124781/original/image-20160601-1951-yw0msw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Policemen after firing shots at protesting miners in August 2012 at a platinum mine 100km from Johannesburg. The event, known as the ‘Marikana Massacre’, left 34 mineworkers dead.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet, the ruling ANC continues to enforce its increasingly unbelievable imaginary on citizens – entrenching growing exclusion and legitimising ever more repressive power. The state’s slaughter of striking mineworkers at <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/marikana-massacre-16-august-2012">Marikana</a> in August 2012 stands out here as perhaps the most dramatic instance of this. The result is that the counter-force of the EFF’s performance of possibility strengthens its hold on our political imagination.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59918/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Candess Kostopoulos received funding from
the National Research Foundation for doctoral research on Paul Ricoeur.
</span></em></p>Red berets, hard hats, overalls and domestic workers’ uniforms have become a prominent part of South African politics. But these are more than just props for the EFF political party.Candess Kostopoulos, Associate Lecturer in Philosophy of Education, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.