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Looking for inspiring videos, films and documentaries about social change and activism? The Commons Library has collated them for you.

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TED talk: What new power looks like

We can see the power of distributed, crowd-sourced business models every day — witness Uber, Kickstarter, Airbnb. But veteran online activist Jeremy Heimans asks: When does that kind of “new power” start to work in politics? His surprising answer: Sooner than you think. It’s a bold argument about the future of politics and power; watch and see if you agree.

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TED talk: Fighting with nonviolence

Peace activist Scilla Elworthy maps out the skills we need – as nations and individuals – to fight extreme force without using force in return.

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TED talk: Activism needs introverts

Sarah Corbett introduces us to “craftivism,” a quieter form of activism that uses handicrafts as a way to get people to slow down and think deeply.

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TED Talk: Courage is Contagious

The “Whose Streets?” documentary tells the story of the protests from the perspective of the activists who showed up to challenge those who use power to spread fear & hate.

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TED talk: Online social change: Easy to organize, hard to win

Today, a single email can launch a worldwide movement. But as sociologist Zeynep Tufekci suggests, even though online activism is easy to grow, it often doesn’t last. Why? She compares modern movements — Gezi, Ukraine, Hong Kong — to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and uncovers a surprising benefit of organizing protest movements the way it happened before Twitter.

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