İrem wears Naomi Dress.
İrem wears Naomi Dress.
stories no.10
İrem Yanpar Coşdan
#everydayactivism
İrem, who works on the necessity of sustainable and slow fashion by informing us about the devastating consequences of fast fashion for both our planet and humanity, is the founder of Yeşil Yama and also the Turkey Coordinator of Fashion Revolution. We had a pleasant conversation with İrem, who inspired us with her posts to make textile industry better, on the concept of “everyday activism”.
İrem, who works on the necessity of sustainable and slow fashion by informing us about the devastating consequences of fast fashion for both our planet and humanity, is the founder of Yeşil Yama and also the Turkey Coordinator of Fashion Revolution. We had a pleasant conversation with İrem, who inspired us with her posts to make textile industry better, on the concept of “everyday activism”.
Q. What do you want to change in this world?
There are so many things that I want to change in the world like everyone else… Environmental and social exploitation, violence, inequality of opportunity, the way law and justice work, the capitalist order, education system, income injustice and all kinds of discrimination are the ones that come to my mind at once. However, if I had a magic wand and just one wish, I would wish everyone to have access to objective and transparent information on any subject they are curious about or have an impact on, and to have received an education in order to evaluate this information without prejudice. In this way, I believe that rational decisions can be made without being affected by the group, the ongoing narratives, interests, and mass manipulations, and this will solve many things that go wrong in the world at the source.
Q. We believe that social transformation is about what we individually choose to do every day. What do you choose to do or not to do when making decisions that do not seem very important in your daily life for the change you want to create?
Activism shows itself not only in taking action and raising our voices but also in our daily decisions. Sometimes the impact of these decisions can be even greater. For example, as well as questioning the working conditions of textile workers or posting on social media for this, not shopping from a brand that we know exploits labour and working with companies who produce ethically if we are an employee in this industry is also a kind of activism and a rebellion against the system…
While making all kinds of decisions, big or small, in life, I take care not to depend on autopilot mood under the influence of past judgments/teachings and to start at an equal distance from all options. Due to my job, I am in a position for information exchange every day and I believe that this entails great responsibility. For this reason, before I share a post, I always approach with a critical point of view even the subjects that I have worked on before and that I am almost sure of. I am researching the source of the information and, the institutions that fund this source – if there is any conflict of interest. I try to move forward with results based on data as much as possible. I do not consider myself an advocate of any product, study or method. I aim to see the pros and cons of all of them and I definitely share my observations with my friends.
Q. How do you think this activist stance that you place in your daily life as a routine and habit, disrupting the malicious rhythm created by the system, affects the people around you?
When I look at the issues in a critical and multi-faceted way, I usually get comments like “I have never thought of it this way before”. Over time, we come from the point of whether ‘’is this questionable?’’ to the level that ‘’how we have not questioned this before!’’. Once you change your way of thinking, much more creative ideas and solutions emerge. It is unbelievable how much we voluntarily limit ourselves and our thinking to the dictates of the system. For this reason, we may sometimes overlook a very obvious problem/solution for years. I also think it is learnable and contagious to question, to make a noise for something you think is wrong.
Q. “Utopias are beautiful.” What would an ordinary day look like in your imagined future? Can you describe us a little bit?
I dream of a world where the right to life of all living things is respected, where science is chosen not politics, cooperation rather than competition, where everyone can reach a quality education, and where people can live their selves freely. A world where all the riches of life are given to honest, moral and hardworking people… The morality I am talking about here is about the obligation not to harm, and hard work is about effort. All of these lead to the dream of a fair world. I do believe that a fair world in today’s conditions is one of the most utopian dreams 🙂
Interviewed and translated by Deniz Saygı
Q. What do you want to change in this world?
There are so many things that I want to change in the world like everyone else… Environmental and social exploitation, violence, inequality of opportunity, the way law and justice work, the capitalist order, education system, income injustice and all kinds of discrimination are the ones that come to my mind at once. However, if I had a magic wand and just one wish, I would wish everyone to have access to objective and transparent information on any subject they are curious about or have an impact on, and to have received an education in order to evaluate this information without prejudice. In this way, I believe that rational decisions can be made without being affected by the group, the ongoing narratives, interests, and mass manipulations, and this will solve many things that go wrong in the world at the source.
Q. We believe that social transformation is about what we individually choose to do every day. What do you choose to do or not to do when making decisions that do not seem very important in your daily life for the change you want to create?
Activism shows itself not only in taking action and raising our voices but also in our daily decisions. Sometimes the impact of these decisions can be even greater. For example, as well as questioning the working conditions of textile workers or posting on social media for this, not shopping from a brand that we know exploits labour and working with companies who produce ethically if we are an employee in this industry is also a kind of activism and a rebellion against the system…
While making all kinds of decisions, big or small, in life, I take care not to depend on autopilot mood under the influence of past judgments/teachings and to start at an equal distance from all options. Due to my job, I am in a position for information exchange every day and I believe that this entails great responsibility. For this reason, before I share a post, I always approach with a critical point of view even the subjects that I have worked on before and that I am almost sure of. I am researching the source of the information and, the institutions that fund this source – if there is any conflict of interest. I try to move forward with results based on data as much as possible. I do not consider myself an advocate of any product, study or method. I aim to see the pros and cons of all of them and I definitely share my observations with my friends.
Q. How do you think this activist stance that you place in your daily life as a routine and habit, disrupting the malicious rhythm created by the system, affects the people around you?
When I look at the issues in a critical and multi-faceted way, I usually get comments like “I have never thought of it this way before”. Over time, we come from the point of whether ‘’is this questionable?’’ to the level that ‘’how we have not questioned this before!’’. Once you change your way of thinking, much more creative ideas and solutions emerge. It is unbelievable how much we voluntarily limit ourselves and our thinking to the dictates of the system. For this reason, we may sometimes overlook a very obvious problem/solution for years. I also think it is learnable and contagious to question, to make a noise for something you think is wrong.
Q. “Utopias are beautiful.” What would an ordinary day look like in your imagined future? Can you describe us a little bit?
I dream of a world where the right to life of all living things is respected, where science is chosen not politics, cooperation rather than competition, where everyone can reach a quality education, and where people can live their selves freely. A world where all the riches of life are given to honest, moral and hardworking people… The morality I am talking about here is about the obligation not to harm, and hard work is about effort. All of these lead to the dream of a fair world. I do believe that a fair world in today’s conditions is one of the most utopian dreams 🙂
Interviewed and translated by Deniz Saygı