December 24, 2004
Performing the City for Social Change
Using Performative Techniques to Get a City Under Control
The former Mayor of Bogotá, Antanas Mockus, is featured in this article in the Harvard Gazette archives. Mockus became well known and loved for his experimental approach to governing the city. His techniques included: employing mimes to shame jaywalkers and dangerous drivers, as pictured on the left; distributing "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" cards so that citizens could critique each other's actions without engaging in a war of words; and creating a "Night for Women", where women went out on the town and men were asked to stay home or carry "safe conduct" passes.
Mockus' intriguing methods acknowledge that existing in public is a kind of performance, and this acute sense of being an actor in public is exactly what makes the mimes who shame you for jaywalking work - social pressure inspires us all to be better performers, and citizens. (Posted by Michelle Kasprzak)
Posted by at December 24, 2004 12:51 PM
