To have power (towards change) you need influence. To be influential you need access. To have access you need to know who and where to have that access. And then – you can do things within your power towards the activism and causes you wish to influence.

Discussions about power pop up now and again in arts and culture, but I am not sure many truly consider it and how gaining some power – no matter how small – can give rise to opportunity for good. And yes, I am not advocating for anything except ‘power for good’ here.

Art is political and by default, many artists are political and want to see things change, they want inequality addressed and when they see wrongdoing they want that corrected. All very normal. But any chance of power to make change is removed when you are out of the ‘game’ for example you could completely de-power yourself by taking a momentary stand.

My experience in recent years supporting clients has taught me activism is a game of power and stealth. To be in the game you need to accumulate power – I can give some recent examples of Nan Goldin and Jasleen Kaur using their power to get strong messages and beliefs across to large audiences. We still won’t understand the more nuanced implications their stand has on their lives and work going forward. But they were not cancelled in public over this. Has their power to make change been diminished? My guess is – no. Will they have pissed some powerful people off? Probably, but they decided that it was their responsibility to stand up and use their platform.

Quiet power is really where it gets interesting. If you are widely networked and some issues you are aware of could do with a push to be addressed, it is possible to activate change by quietly steering and connecting people. You can remain in the background, and I am not talking about anything underhand. It’s about identifying the opportunities to enable change and finding ways for new ideas to penetrate the places where change is possible.

This post came about through experiences in my recent PR work, and from seeing how direction action, change-making and activism all play out differently depending on power. I may or may not have taken quiet action myself towards driving for change within my power, but hardly anyone will know about it.

Suzanne Alleyn has been researching and talking about power and the ‘Neurology of Power’ for some time and you can find out more here.

On the Courage of Nan Goldin and the Truth About Germany’s “Never Again Is Now” Resolution LINK

Turner Prize winner [Jasleen Kaur] says ‘free Palestine’ in acceptance speech LINK