People are saying, "I have a right to my opinion. Don't just keep condescending, telling me what to think." There's something slightly liberating about that, but also it lends itself to being taken advantage of, because in come the demagogues.
Duncan GreenI keep coming back to the phrase "Dance with the system" - not just march onwards no matter what happens.
Duncan GreenTo be effective at selling ideas, at being a lobbyist, influencing other people, you have to be very sure of yourself.
Duncan GreenI see [activists] getting really angry that people won't just do what the evidence tells them, and that's not very helpful. You need to actually think why that is.
Duncan GreenWhen you get talking to people in positions of power, you find that often their worldview is framed either in terms of their disciplinary studies at university and/or the country where they first got interest in development.
Duncan GreenThere's a diversion between economic reality - integration, global village, everybody depending on everybody else - and cultural reality, which is people feeling invaded, undermined, threatened, wanting to have "stand-your-ground" legislation all over the place. It's alarming because at the moment, the fear is outweighing the benefits, and that's partially because the benefits have been so unequally distributed that lots of people don't feel better off. They feel threatened, angry and despairing.
Duncan Green