Reflections on manifesto writing

The manifesto is a hybrid, multivocal and multimodal form that can be used to generate and push into the public sphere radical new ideas, freeing its authors from the constraints of polite speech in times that call for urgent action. Activism within universities is on the rise, motivated by issues such as climate change, migration, race, gender, and institutional reform. The authors, both academics living in The Netherlands, started the Words in Freedom project for the study of manifestos and the development of tools for collaborative manifesto writing. In 2019 they created a game called MANIFESTO! that was first tested at the annual CHI conference for human-computer interaction, held in Glasgow. This practitioner reflection discusses strategies and techniques for manifesto writing, especially in an academic context.