How influence works in social movements
Nowadays, public opinion is often times fickle, subject to an overflow of information and stimuli.
At the beginning of the previous century the public opinion concept developed, as a manner of expression of will by the masses (in the follow-up of the Age of Enlightment). Simultaneously, new forms of control naturally developed. Edward Bernays, “father” of PR, considered that in order for society to prosper, it is necessary for groups of “enlightened individuals” to organise and subtly influence society in ways they deem appropriate. The term he coined for this model of control was “public relations”, as a new category, different from the “ad-man” in the advertising industry.
Thus, ‘influence’ became an object of study and of practical applications. Mass consumerism started through campaigns aimed at making people “want” rather than “need” things, by appealing to different social desires: the desire to be “unique”, to “look better” or to “be better than thy neigbhour”. Political, ideological,
Social movements get in on the game
Taking a page from the book of PR & influence, many social movements have started telling their own stories in unique and elaborated ways.
The game of public opinion is never of zero sum: cyclical changes take places, currents and ideas shift, and there is never an absolute truth that any side can legitimately claim. That being said, there are objective measures to assess whether utilizing methods of manipulating public perception is, in fact, wrong: does it cause people to be hurt? it is for fighting injustice? is it to support wellbeing of people? The moral relativism of civil disobedience is left to be discussed by the public opinion but an act of change has real impact on individuals’ lives.
A lot of people know of this image:

Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give her seat to a white man on a bus — this act sparked the Civil Rights Movement and brought the struggle of American’s black people to national attention. But it was no random event:
“…Miss Rosa Parks’s decision to stay in a forward seat was the first move in a planned boycott of the bus company and the city law, a campaign organised long before by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and run by a young, bland, handsome black parson, name of Martin Luther King Jr, who while I was in Montgomery, flew in from Atlanta twice a week to buy little vans for use by the boycotters.” — Alistair Cooke, “Rosa Parks: freedom in America” in The Guardian (Link)
It was an intentional, planned act of civil disobedience against an unjust system. This was the chosen trigger to launch a full scale campaign to show to the country (and the world) how unfair and unequal their treatment was. Civil disobedience is a manifestation of soft power, boiled down to the level of a movement. Supporters of the Civil Rights Movement of the US took to the streets, marched, violated unfair laws, got arrested and beaten in public and on camera — all of this to demonstrate that things need to change. Their soft power was the power of sacrifice.
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Or take this image: the Flower Power movement, in opposition to the Vietnam War. While the image is perhaps not as representative for the entire movement (which had a lot of aspects and initiatives), it does showcase an example of soft power: a single man on the side of peace and non-violence, pitted against a wall of armed, uniformed men, extends a token of reconciliation in the form of a flower. A strong visual, considered one of the most iconic images of the century — not for what it is but for what it told (and still tells) to everyone who had a legitimate struggle against unjust authority.
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A painful image of the same war: a buddhist monk’s self immolation (his name was Thich Quang Duc) to protest the policies against Buddhists of South Vietnam’s ruler in 1963 (an ally of the US Government at the time). Thich Quang Duc showed the world that he cannot and should not accept the abuse; his sacrifice was a symbol of commitment to non-violent protest. His act, followed by other Buddhist monks in the country, led to international pressure on the regime of Ngo Dinh Diem, who got toppled a few months later.
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One recent example of soft power in a positive manner is seen in this image from the Arab Spring in Egypt, 2011. The photo shows a group of Christians protecting a large group of praying Muslims; the photo went viral soon after. The context is one of high interfaith tension, following the bombing of a Coptic Christian church, by people considered to be Islamic extremists. But in a showcase of unity, the communities of different faiths have gotten together to demonstrate that the division is artificial. The photo was the first of its kind and made its way around the world, followed afterwards by many such examples from around the world, with Muslims forming human shields to protect synagogues and churches, or individuals of different faiths praying together. (Source)
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Source of the pictures: https://www.brainjet.com/world/2358480/21-of-the-most-iconic-protest-photos-of-all-time-prepare-for-goosebumps/
