All across the world we’re witnessing a crisis of democracy and a sense of increased polarization. How can we engage in conversations that call others in rather than out? How can we seek to win over those who currently refuse to agree with us? And how do we create visions for the future that make our movements irresistible?
Leilani and Fredrik talk to American journalist and writer Anand Giridharadas about the art of persuasion and the need to engage in conversations that pull people in rather than push them sideways. In this episode we ask, how do we start talking to others at their level of humanity? How do we bring emotional intelligence into our pro-democracy movements?
In his book The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy, Anand Giridharadas advocates for a politics of love that is both strategic and irresistible, and tells the stories of those who are continuously changing people’s hearts and minds in favor of democracy and justice.
Anand argues that our movements become stronger when we not only resist the darkness but actively describe the light. “We can't be demoralized”, he says. “We have to stand up and insist on the kind of world we want and then invitingly pull people into those visions, so that they become shared visions and shared dreams.”
Anand Giridharadas' website: http://www.anand.ly/