Social Justice Board Games
Social Justice Board Games
Social Justice Board Games
October 2, 2022
By Elias Villoro
Summary
Rise-Up, Monopoly, and Co-opoly: What did you learn playing board games?
There are board games that teach us about capitalism, private property, and the myth of meritocracy.
Normalizing empire, domination, and violence are three lessons Cold War weapon that was the board game Risk.
These games reinforce the idea of scarcity and that it is a dog eats-dog world.
In honor of the actual origins of the game Monopoly, in Elizabeth Magie's invention in 1903 of the Landlord Game, check out these two social justice-themed board games: "Rise-Up" and "Co-opoly: The Game of Co-operatives."Both are the Toolbox for Education and Social Action collective projects, with themes that offer other forms of play based on cooperation and solidarity rather than competition and supremacy.
"Rise Up is a board game about building people's power and winning together to create social justice-even when the cards are stacked against us. All players are on the same team, collaborating to build a movement and fight an opponent that is trying to crush your efforts. You'll have to strategize creatively about your movement's actions to win. Get inspired about the social change possible to make the world you want to live in, and learn tactical skills for how we can get there."
The TESA games "Encourage people to engage with topics in low-stakes settings while building lasting memories and connections to important subjects."
Reference
Villoro, E. (2022, October 02). Social Justice Board games. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://boingboing.net/2022/10/02/social-justice-board-games.html