As an academic and a political activist and parliamentary candidate, Faiza Shaheen is well placed to understand both the theory and practice of how change happens in society. In this Q&A with Mike Wilkerson, she discusses the realisations that spurred her to enter politics and why real change rarely starts from within the institutions of power

Shaheen, Faiza

English

LSE Research Online

Power and the people – understandingpolitical change and how it happensAs an academic and a political activist and parliamentary candidate, Faiza Shaheen iswell placed to understand both the theory and practice of how change happens insociety. In this Q&A with Mike Wilkerson, she discusses the realisations that spurred herto enter politics and why real change rarely starts from within the institutions of power.How do you define change and where it happens? Is it something that can emergefrom activism in broader society, or does it always require a connection toauthorities or people with the power to set policy?There’s different types of change. Sometimes it is just getting people to be more aware,with a petition, for instance. Getting the public to notice an issue is often the first stepbecause, too often, the people in government aren’t interested until you’ve made a bignoise about things.If, ultimately, you want to see a policy, legal or legislative change, you have to be veryclear about your demands. I wouldn’t dismiss any small change along the way, but youdo need to have a sense of where you want to get to, what you want to see at the end ofthe process.I’ve been working on inequality for over 20 years now and when I first started working oneconomic inequality, people didn’t really care about it. It wasn’t an issue. The senioreconomist at the think tank I was working at even used to say: “inequality doesn’tmatter”.Over the last 20 years that’s completely shifted: there is so much more attention now andpeople understand the issue. We have more anger about inequality, we have moreacademic papers about it, more books about it. But actually, for the most part, in terms ofpolicies, we’ve seen it go in the opposite direction and inequality has grown. We have toreflect and be honest about what’s gone wrong. Perhaps, despite lots of publicawareness, lots of public anger, it wasn’t clear enough what policies we werePage 1 of 6Permalink: undefinedDate originally posted: undefinedDate PDF generated: 08/03/2024demanding. Or perhaps this anger was co-opted. So you’ve got to think strategically – toknow what you’re trying to do and where you’re trying to get to and anticipate attempts toundermine your arguments.How can we enact long-term change in a political system with a government thatchanges every four or five years (or even more frequently, looking at the UK’srecent political past)?There is a big problem with the fact that people are often elected for four or five yearsand they’ll have their own agenda. They want to be remembered for something and thatoften doesn’t match up with what needs to be done in the world. I think public pressure isthe key thing.In Ireland, for instance, achieving abortion and marriage equality rights was donethrough public conversations and through activism, because sometimes, even ifpoliticians agree, they don’t want to be seen to be the face of it because they’re scaredof a backlash. And that takes a lot of effort from movements over time to try to push themand move the consensus.For that legislative change, you need those movements, those conversations, thatcommitment over years, and then you also need to push for it at the right time – whenthere’s people in government that are onside to act on it. So it’s not impossible to workwithin the system, but it does take a lot of effort from civil society essentially, becausechange rarely comes from the top.It’s not impossible to work within the system, but it does take a lot of effortfrom civil society essentially, because change rarely comes from the top.Once you’ve made the argument, done the work on the ground, done the testing aroundwhat it can look like – you need to wait for the right moment to have that broader societalchange. But you don’t always know when that’s going to come. It might feel like we’re sofar away from change and then suddenly, a window opens.How do you think public attitudes to protest and campaigning have changed inrecent years?Data show that protest has increased since 2006. Between 2006 and 2020, protestsPage 2 of 6Permalink: undefinedDate originally posted: undefinedDate PDF generated: 08/03/2024around the world tripled. You can imagine why: there was BlackLivesMatter, the financialcrisis and the Occupy movement… as well as anti-mask protests – it is not alwaysprogressive but people are more willing to take to the streets because of a universalsense of anger and frustration. And it’s not just a UK or a US issue, this is the casewherever you look. And often these protests are about frustrations with failures ofdemocracy or government.Of course, you want that protest to then convert into real change – but I think the degreeto which that is bringing about enough change is questionable. I’ve done some work overthe last few years with some of the Arab region countries that had revolutions. In Tunisia,many people went out and joined those protests but now feel like the country is in aworse state than before. Then people end up being even more despondent becausethey’ve built up all this hope. But in Colombia, it did result in a different governmentbeing elected. So, it can go both ways.LSE IQ PodcastHow do you see the relationship between formalised party politics and socialmovements when it comes to bringing about change?Page 3 of 6Permalink: undefinedDate originally posted: undefinedDate PDF generated: 08/03/2024I think change usually happens when movements come together, pushing for action andputting pressure on governments. Too often, the people in government aren’t necessarilyconnected to social movements. They are much more connected to vested interests orbusiness. And so you need the outside pressure, and then you need some insiders thatare willing to take on these issues within a legislative process and be that voice withinthese formal areas, even if it’s uncomfortable. You do need both.That’s why it’s so important to have a healthy civil society. The reason there are suchcrackdowns on civil society in some parts of the world is because of the power it holds –and here we’re also seeing efforts to curtail protest.Is there a privilege to being able to change things? Does education, class andbackground affect the level of change and impact you can have?It definitely feels like that now. I think just having time to get involved in things is such aluxury when you’re really struggling with money and you’re working two jobs. But I thinkalso it’s important to note that historically and still now, there are ways in which workingclass people make the most change, for example by organising and striking in theworkplace – like we saw with cleaners in hospitals who managed to stop outsourcing andachieve greater rights. But it takes a lot of courage and effort to bring people together.People sometimes talk about “change-makers” or inspirational individuals – but thereality is that grassroots change comes from many people, from collective effort. Joininga community is what gives you power.People sometimes talk about “change-makers” or inspirational individuals –but the reality is that grassroots change comes from many peopleAnd we might want to point to individuals in history that have made a difference. Butwhen you look into their stories, they are held up by a movement that got there becauseother people came around and organised. Me winning my selection for the Labour Partywas actually a real group effort. I didn’t make all the calls on my own. I didn’t come upwith the strategy on my own. It was done with local party members. So I think while itfeels like, yes, there’s some privileged people in positions who have lots of time, I thinkwhatever you can do in the time that you have to be part of a community can lead to thekind of change and collective change that we need to see.Page 4 of 6Permalink: undefinedDate originally posted: undefinedDate PDF generated: 08/03/2024Did your own path into politics involve finding a community in this way?I’ve always been an outsider – I grew up in a working-class household in East London.When I went to Oxford, I was shocked by the entitlement and the privilege and themoney that people had – that some people have a sense of being born to rule almost. Ijust got more and more angry about the inequality.And then I joined up with other people who had similar frustrations along the way. Ihadn’t thought about running to be an MP until 2017, which is when I was approached bysome local people to consider running. And because the MP I’m running against, IainDuncan Smith, had brought in a lot of welfare changes that had affected my mum’s life,it’s very personal for me.How do you think others can feel inspired and empowered to try to make adifference in this way?The first thing is ideology. Too many people in power are still wedded to an ideology thatjustifies inequality and corporate greed. So energy companies make record profits whileothers have to choose between heating and eating.We need people with different ideologies in power. And we need to teach economics in adifferent way. I know some of that shift has happened since the financial crisis. Youknow, instead of making everyone think it’s just about how much money you’re going tomake, that the most ambitious thing anyone can do is to try to change the world. I getinto this in my book Know Your Place, which is about how you don’t know your place andyou fight the system!in some ways we’ve come so far from when I was told by my boss that no-one caresabout inequality. In some ways it’s been a huge shift. And I do feel more confident whenI speak to a lot of younger people today who recognise that if they don’t fight, then thefutures is bleak. I mean, there’s only one option and that is to fight. Otherwise we’re justaccepting things as they are. And how can we accept this?This post is an edited and abridged version of an interview conducted for “Can wechange the world” episode of the LSE’s IQ Podcast. You can listen to the full podcastepisode here.Page 5 of 6Permalink: undefinedDate originally posted: undefinedDate PDF generated: 08/03/2024All articles posted on this blog give the views of the author(s), and not the position ofLSE British Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics and PoliticalScience.Image credit: Vincenzo Lullo / Shutterstock.comPage 6 of 6Permalink: undefinedDate originally posted: undefinedDate PDF generated: 08/03/2024

Power and the people - understanding political change and how it happens

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Power and the people - understanding political change and how it happens

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