The Right to Imagine

“Throughout history, achievers of great change have relied on their imaginations to address fundamental flaws in society. In my country of birth, Czechoslovakia, dissidents against Communism kept their dreams of democracy alive for decades by imagining different futures. In South Africa under apartheid, Nelson Mandela’s followers had to be radical in their imagination to create a vision of a fairer society.”

—Peter Sutoris in Scientific American

"The map to a new world is in the imagination."

—Robin D. G. Kelley

An Insidious Scarcity

Many nonprofit staff live with an insidious scarcity. This hardship comes in many forms – burnout, time poverty, and the frustration of time spent on seemingly meaningless tasks. It ultimately manifests as a relentless busyness that, while having the appearance of productivity, robs staff of the breathing space to imagine, to make meaning, and to examine whether their work is truly uprooting social and environmental dysfunctions. The psychologist Abraham Maslow, in his Hierarchy of Needs framework, lays out what is necessary for humans to thrive, starting with basic physical needs and reaching up to self-actualization, which includes the need to be creative and to exercise our imaginations. International development scholar Peter Sutoris notes that, “throughout history, achievers of great change have relied on their imaginations to address fundamental flaws in society.” The imagination, while it may seem to be the epitome of the fanciful, is also deeply practical. To be fair, many in the for-good sector, while inordinately busy, are deeply fulfilled, energized, and/or work for nurturing organizations. But we have all seen and experienced enough of the relentless hand-to-the-till work and the dysfunction that manifests in burnout and cynicism, to know that there has to be a better way; the status quo is stripping us of the creativity needed to imagine new futures and the paths to get there. So, we appropriate right-based language here, because the imagination, while in theory, is accessible to all, must be cherished and protected, if it is to come alive.

To reclaim the right to imagine, we must demand it of:

Our Funders

Funders must understand that breathing room for the imagination, along with such program quality-focused tasks like professional development, research and development and organizational learning, needs unrestricted resources. The myth of the low overhead as an indicator of nonprofit effectiveness, needs to be done away with once and for all.

Our Leaders

The leaders of our organization must lead the way with their imaginations, creating workplaces where staff are allowed to ask ‘what if’ questions, to fail, and to rest and recharge.

Our Citizens

We must ask them for trust, along with their money, to find better and better solutions, even if this takes us on windings paths and some dead ends.

Our Consultants

They should ask us the questions that challenge sacred cows and open up new possibilities.

Ourselves

We must continually remind ourselves that future-building starts with imagination, and use what leeway we have to make it so.

To learn more about why creativity and imagination are crucial tools for the social sector, click here.

Books on Imagination

Imagination a Manifesto Imagination: A Manifesto by Ruha Benjamin argues that imagination is not a luxury, but a vital tool of collective liberation, essential for challenging oppressive systems and dreaming up radically different futures. The book critiques and deconstructs “dominant imaginaries” — ideas and assumptions that make systems like racism, classism, and surveillance seem inevitable — and offers examples and practices for cultivating more inclusive and justice-oriented visions of what society could become.	Creature of Air and Still Water Written by Ignited Word's very own founder Malaika Cheney-Coker, the novel Creature of Air and Still Water tells the story of a young man, who, while in the grip of a mysterious mental affliction, sets up an imagination-stretching camp for underprivileged children in Sierra Leone. He brings in people from unusual walks of life whose stories and passion expand the children's sense of possible professions and awaken notions of self actualization.	Another World Is Possible: How to Reignite Social and Political Imagination Another World Is Possible: How to Reignite Social and Political Imagination by Geoff Mulgan argues that alongside crises like climate change and pandemics, there is a deeper, more hidden emergency: a collapse of collective imagination. He explores how societies have in the past and present used creativity, art, political ideas, and institutions to envision radically different futures—and offers practical methods for cultivating this kind of transformative vision today.
The Black Radical Imagination The Black Radical Imagination is a collection of essays edited by Robin D. G. Kelley and Stephan Best that explores how Black artists, writers, and thinkers envision freedom beyond the limits of the present. Drawing on history, art, and political theory, it examines how radical Black thought reimagines liberation, possibility, and the future.	The Ministry of the Future The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson is a science fiction novel that takes seriously the urgency of climate change and explores how politics, economics, science, and moral imagination might combine to address it. It follows Mary Murphy, head of a new international agency formed under the Paris Agreement, and other characters, as they respond to disasters, political resistance, radical proposals (from carbon coins to geoengineering), and the ethics of protecting future generations.	The People Could Fly The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton is a luminous collection of 24 folktales where imagination becomes a vehicle of survival and freedom. Drawing on African American oral traditions, these stories—ranging from witty trickster adventures to ghostly encounters—celebrate creativity and the power to envision life beyond oppression. The title tale, in which enslaved people remember their forgotten ability to fly, stands as a metaphor for imaginative liberation.

More Resources

From Roads to Air: Rebooting the Mind for Creativity. An Ignited Word discussion guide for priming the imagination.
How to Fuel Imagination. An Ignited Word resource drawing inspiration from Geoff Mulgan's "universal grammars of creativity."
To Solve the Environmental Crisis, We Must Foster the Power to Imagine
Project Unsung - an initiative by the UN Refugee Agency Innovation Service that has brought together creative minds from across the globe to "bring together art and the imagination in response to social crises."