Cultural strategist and Environmental activist, Daze Aghaji, believes that the multiple crises we’re living through – from the war in Palestine to the climate crisis to toxic gender debates – all stem from a crisis of belonging. As we search for belonging ‘hollow and unrooted ways’ like nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric seem to offer a solution. But Daze argues there are alternatives to these hollow solutions. She believes that culture can rebuild belonging to meaningfully address systemic political challenges because culture carries the values of our society and reminders of how we are meant to live together. By investing in our culture from folk carnivals to community gardens, we can co-create the culture needed to better belong to one another and our planet.
Daze Aghaji is an environmentalist and cultural strategist whose work explores identity, belonging, and our relationship with the Earth. She co-founded Extinction Rebellion Youth, ran for election as the youngest MEP Candidate in 2019, and ran a successful judicial review against the UK government. Later served as Creative Director of Earthrise Studio. Committed to using diverse forms of storytelling to make the climate crisis feel human and urgent, Daze appeared on Big Brother in 2024. She also co-founded Absurd Intelligence, a narrative agency reimagining bold futures, and Hard Art, a world-building cultural collective addressing the climate and democracy crisis. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx.
