What is this?

A trickster is an archetypal figure found in many world mythologies and folklore traditions, personifying the subversive, subversive and often disruptive forces of nature. The trickster operates outside social boundaries, often through their chaotic, playful and disruptive behavior which disrupts the established order and rules of society. They represent rebelliousness, chaos and non-conformity, often working from the margins of society – where they offer a unique vantage point of critique and disruption. Tricksters are creative and inventive, often engaging with tricky problems and paradoxes in order to disrupt oppressive structures and scripts. In some stories, tricksters may even succeed in subverting and/or transforming the oppressive structures they initially sought to disrupt. Tricksters challenge the status quo, asking us to question taken-for-granted assumptions and ultimately inspire transformation.

See also: intergenerational trauma, black geographies, white supremacy, post activism

Session #4 with Dr. Bayo Akomolafe — Thought Leadership for Systems Transformation (TLST '22) 26,509

Bayo Akomolafe: The Times are Urgent, Let Us Slow Down 20,985

Is There a Solution for Climate Change? Bayo Akomolafe 17,119

Bayo Akomolafe - Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview 12,154

Earth Talk: The Gods of the Discarded with Bayo Akomolafe 9,926

Bayo Akomolafe | Let Us Make Sanctuary 9,230

Cancel Culture and the limits of Identity Politics with Bayo Akomolafe 8,657

Bayo Akomolafe: How I Am Unlearning My Whiteness (May 2017) 6,345

Pat McCabe & Bayo Akomolafe - Trickster, monster, other: new and ancient ways of seeing in the dark 5,644

Bayo Akomolafe and Charles Eisenstein (Stage 2 - Falling Apart) 3,755