Mattress game

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Contents 1 Name: The Mattress game 2 Time: 3 Purpose or goal of the exercise 4 How it's done 5 Debriefing

Name: The Mattress game

Time:

Purpose or goal of the exercise

To understand the power structures

How it's done

• ask for a volunteer to be ‘the powers’ OR use a mattress

• ask: what are the pillars of support for the domination system? FC

• choose six; go around the circle and name six people to symbolise each of the pillars; they are to pick up and support the ‘powers’ stretched out; hold him aloft; then go around them and pull each out separately, asking: what if the media were not longer holding up their end of the domination system, but had withdrawn their co-operation with it? Etc.; pull each one out until the ‘powers’ falls (but carefully!)

• have the six pillars stand off separately for a few minutes

• divide the rest of the group into six groups: their role to strategise how to persuade

• take the pillars into another room to talk about what might happen, what might persuade them to let go; give them name tags to identify them

• then they march in holding up the mattress which represents the powers / the domination system; the groups are to gather around their pillar of interest and try to negotiate, persuade

Debriefing

what worked? what categories of strategies? (tribal loyalties, altruism, values, self-interest, threaten withdrawal of co-operation)