Manifestos of Hope and Resistance (in Times of Crisis and Uncertainty)

At the start of the 2020s it is hard to argue that everything is fine. So, how can manifestos help? Manifestos work best at making manifest – that is, bringing to light what has been kept in darkness, saying out loud what has been unsaid, saying enough is enough, initiating change. But the return of the manifesto is double-edged – it is often violent, driven by emotion, and immune to facts. Manifestos hold great potential for positive change, but they also reflect the dangers that come with extremism and a fragmented populace. The return of a form that was so ubiquitous in periods of crisis is symptomatic of our present upheaval. On balance, however, I choose to think of the manifesto as more cure than cause: a tool for activists in challenging and uncertain times. The more broken and ineffectual the normal channels seem, the more reassuring is the manifesto’s confident tone. When civic systems and civil behaviour fails, “uncivil” forms of protest are sometimes needed to disrupt the status quo and overcome barriers to real justice.