Friends and partners,
As we witness mass firings within the federal government, rising corruption, attempts to redefine citizenship, and increasing inflation, conversations about America’s rigged systems are alive and well.
Many are trying to find ways to speak to the widespread sentiment that our systems are rigged. In doing so, it’s natural to want to point to a “bad guy” or focus on the individuals doing the rigging. And in some cases, it’s absolutely necessary to name a villain in the story. But research from the Culture Change Project shows that when we talk about rigged systems, naming a villain isn’t as straightforward as it seems.
In this month’s blog post, my colleague Drew Volmert explains that focusing on individual villains tends to lead people to individualistic solutions—like the notion that the fix for all our problems lies in getting rid of this one, bad person. And if we name a villain as a substitute for providing a clear explanation of how the system is being rigged, people may fill in with their own explanations that are often rooted in racist, xenophobic, or antisemitic narratives.
Check out the blog post for an explanation of these three tips for talking about villains:
- Focus more on how the system is rigged than who is rigging it.
- If identifying villains is essential, point to groups, rather than individuals.
- When naming villains, always provide a clear explanation of how they’re rigging the system.
It’s not that we shouldn’t name villains—but when we do, we need to frame carefully. In being clear about how the rigging works, we help people better understand what it will take to unrig the system.
In partnership,
Clara Blustein Lindholm
Director of Research Interpretation, Culture Change Project