TOR160 — Supporting the Economy of Prestige with Kurt Shaw of the Shine A Light Foundation

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You’ve heard me lament more than a few times on this podcast about the fact that innovation in the social sector is often times synonymous with technology. We talk a lot about how phones and apps and data are accelerating change and opening up opportunities for those in need. And, of course, being something of a super geek, I admit I love these conversations. But, I’m also aware of this narrow focus, and so, when I get a chance to highlight other forms of innovation, I pounce. The innovator I’m excited to introduce to you on today’s 160th Terms of Reference Podcast hasn’t created a new technology. Rather, his organization has recognized that prestige is its own type of economy for street kids. So much so, that as the opportunity to earn prestige has flourished through their programs, it has literally transformed the lives of tens of thousands of youth across latin America. My guest is Kurt Shaw. He is the Executive Director of the Shine A Light foundation. Shine a Light teaches digital arts – think video, movie making, audio storytelling – to marginalized children all over Latin America. And, as you’ll hear in our discussion, their work has had serious, measurable impact on street kids in many different countries. Perhaps the quality I enjoy the most about this conversation with Kurt is his humility and recognition that he and Shine a Light are facilitators that help to unlock potential, and the kids they work with are the real inspiration. So much so that their movies, art, comics, books and other productions have won several awards – locally and internationally. You can connect with Kurt here: http://www.shinealight.org/about/

IN TOR 160 YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT

  • The effect art and media have had on child homelessness and deadly violence in urban Latin America in the past 3 decades, thanks to no small extent to Shine A Light
  • How Kurt found in the favelas and dark corners of Bogotá the intellectual stimulation he did not found at Harvard
  • The many problems with the way people who want to help displaced children see and think of them
  • Why a clear way forward to end gang violence has less to do with telling members what to do and more with listening to them and spreading their voice
  • How prestige is a scarce resource in many social contexts, and how arts and media can help increasing and spreading reputational wealth
  • Potential perils in our current thinking and approaches to social media

OUR CONVERSATION FEATURES THE FOLLOWING

Names:

  • Shine A Light
  • United Nations
  • Harvard University
  • Taller de Vida (Bogotá NGO)
  • UNICEF
  • Luciérnaga (Córdoba, Argentina NGO)
  • Cortópolis Film Festival
  • Alejandro Ledezma, El Túnel (Cortópolis Winner Short Film) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBUGKcvVVwM
  • FavelaNews
  • O Globo
  • Wakiponi Mobile
  • Van Leer Foundation

Topics:

  • Child Homelessness
  • Poverty and Inequality in Latin America, Marginalization
  • Refugees, Displaced populations
  • Listening
  • Media, instructional content, filmmaking, newspaper
  • Street violence, crime, homicide rates
  • Favelas
  • Media coverage, “invisibility”
  • Prestige, Reputation, Recognition
  • Amazon and Indigenous peoples
  • Conflict resolution
  • Liberation Theology, Catholicism
  • Union Movements
  • Austrian Neoliberal Economics
  • Philosophy

Places:

  • Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
  • Bogotá, Colombia
  • Florianópolis, Brazil
  • San Cristóbal, Ecuador
  • Chiapas, Mexico
  • Córdoba, Argentina
  • Rio de Janeiro
  • São Paulo
  • Chicago, IL
  • Kingston, Jamaica
  • Medellín, Colombia

EPISODE CRIB NOTES

Download an automated transcript. Florianópolis, Brazil   03:17 Shine a light on Shine A Light Late 1990s Kurt was not getting intellectually stimulated at Harvard Then he talked to a 16 year old kid under a bridge “They really want to know what life is about” Harvard reaches out to him, for a project with the UN He doubted The internet was just beginning “We will empower them technologically” He goes around Latin American cities Talking with people working with marginalized kids Promoting cross-learning among groups   06:04 Why Latin America? Shine A Light was always born as a project about networking Taller de Vida, a Bogotá NGO Founded by refugee women, intellectuals displaced from rural areas by paramilitary They worked with kids They saw how “poorly” the school system viewed displaced children (as in “oh poor things”) The women knew that was not the case by long Kids should not be subjects of remedial learning Displaced kids can talk about geography, biology, agriculture to fellow urban kids 1990s: 40 million street kids in Latin America according to UNICEF Not quite But this encouraged new ways to look at the issues Causes, frameworks Children not only live on street to escape homes, but to figure things out Demographic trends In Bogotá, a census reveals 30-40,000 kids 2009, another census: 60 “There’s no way we can take credit for that”   09:34 Meshing a network that works The peers “don’t listen to us” In Chiapas, Mexico, concerns about indigenous kids speaking different languages “San Cristobal has this Zapatista take on working with indigenous groups. Give them a call” The SC group received 40 calls. “Disastrous” The network streamlined communication SAL turns insight into instructional content “But they weren’t listening to us, but to SC, Taller de Vida, Luciérnaga” Knowledge set in a way that would provide value to an organization   11:31 A&D Media Kurt is a filmmaker Media found as a tool to communicate between organizations Then, it is found out kids and youths have a liking to media, filmmaking, arts “They see themselves and show themselves in new ways” This influences SAL new mission Short project in Córdoba, Argentina La Luciérnaga NGO Homeless kids wrote a newspaper A kid grows under Kurt’s watch, leaves homelessness Kurt gives him the chance to make a movie He agrees It’s called The Tunnel As a street kid, he’d rob people then dive to the sewers No one would follow him That was his life for years He took the camera Went back to the sewers Sewers as life metaphor “Coming out into a new life” Winner at national Argentinian short film festival Cortópolis He has a daughter now Movies as a way to look at yourself. “Better than psychoanalysis”   16:31 Can The Tunnel scale? “That’s the danger of telling stories” There’s also books, graphic novels Stories touch people, but… 2011 Kurt’s wife, co-director and anthropologist In Recife, working with young street artists “What were the community forces that resisted violence?” Two reasons (none money) #1 Justice Furious against the police Undeserved and unpunished killings of family members #2 Visibility People in the favela are invisible Under high walls “Invisibility is heavy” Kids know drug trade won’t bring them #1 or 2 “It’s all we have” The Economy of Prestige is born Favelas are different worlds, economies Prestige and honor are scarce resources, because of the walls Limited number of eyes If a little kid wants prestige, it must be endowed by a prestigious gang member The prestigious person cannot share it with everyone Money follows prestige How can we change this link?   20:53 More about intangible limited resources Stephen: Are favela inhabitants aware of the Prestige Economy? “To some extent. They know it’s a zero-sum game” “It’s as if we’re crabs in a bucket” “The only way out is by stepping on others” “And everyone is trying to grab you back down” Metaphors thought out by themselves “Evil Eye”: On those who have something Try to make them feel bad about what they have Building leadership in kids, related to the quest for recognition But not everyone can get the recognition they want or deserve… or?   23:09 Evil-eyed crabs describe a variety of non-favela-based social scenarios FavelaNews Real reporters, talking about the good things “A street vendor that makes everyone laugh” “A winning team at a local tournament” “Basic things that teach all of us what matters” Media teaches what matters is when you kill other people Stories make resources flow differently FavelaNews expand the variety of purposes people can go after Recognition is not a zero-sum game Nobody loses recognition because of FavelaNews FN grows the prestige pie People are really looking forward to catch FN reporters They want to think of themselves as role models At the beginning, reporters came and started setting cameras A group of women came “What are you doing here? Nobody’s been murdered” What does it say about media? About the expectations of what matters? Now: “Let me show you this cool graffiti”   27:26 Effects Conversations about conflict mediation “I have a certain doubt” Chicago, Medellín, Kingston, Rio or Sao Paulo Places with highly structured criminality Prestige Economy “Just might not work” At Recife, violence is anarchic, little gangs Currently working with Amazon indigenous people Why news or human stories? “I like to” Social interactions “Aesthetic sociology” Homicide rates where SAL and FN intervened doubled that at Iraq at the onset Other activities allow interaction between favelas Intense work with gang leaders on conflict resolution Large share of murders are revenge killers, in chain Also with police to reduce brutality, fear, involvement in revenge Homicide rates is less than 10×1000 “Important things are happening”   33:13 What’s next for favela media FN is going steady in social media But social media is a complicated matter “Seems it cannot deliver on its promise of fame” FN has avoided this inflation of expectations Social media fame expectations might be related to new fascism, identity politics A connection between recognition and outrage in social media In social media “you are rewarded for your anger” We’re all guilty Recognition without rage would be the goal Leverage social media for prestige People wouldn’t want outrage-based recognition In Rio, a similar FN initiative But they focus on cops and the war on drugs   37:09 The problem with every newsfeed is that it’s a newsfeed everywhere Click-bait A Kurt’s friend in advertising At a seminar for Brazil’s OGlobo media conglomerate They have a dedicated team to scour keywords to add to headlines, guarantee viewership “That’s frightening” “That’s what we have to deal with” Scaling individual lessons is a challenge Talking with colleagues who stayed in the US The “big picture” is important but might end up sounding superficial “What we are doing touches people” but maybe in too small an audience Large social change is still a looming question Where is the next generation of Latin American intellectuals? 70s-80s inspiration was Liberation Theology, Union Movements The Popes killed them Small, commercial churches filled the void Where are the leaders going to come from? SAL has built some leaders and artists “Not huge numbers”   44:14 Fund A Light “We’re lean and mean” Not a large budget SAL is supported by the Van Leer Family Foundation in the Netherlands “I know a lot of people who are now very rich” “I don’t spend a lot of time in fundraising”   45:28 Kurt saw “I make a real point to read people I disagree with” Austrian Neoliberal Economics Classic and Contemporary Philosophy Canada’s Wakiponi Mobile (video teaching for indigenous peoples) FavelaNews’ first feature movie coming up Professional Quality, Festival-Nominated Participatory Video
 

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