Is a Joke Ever Just a Joke?

But the popularity of Jón Gnarr and others in the Best Party does not, in itself, explain the popularity of the party, its methods, or its message. The joke is much more than a local prank, reflected in part by the fact that the elected people have taken their responsibilities seriously and put their careers as musicians, actors, businesspeople, producers, and architects on hold in order to serve their city and carry forth their message. Behind what at first glance looks like foolishness lies biting criticism.

Jón Gnarr and other members of the Best Party used satire and parody to convey their message during the election campaign. Boyer (2005; 2011; 2013) has observed the increased use of a “particular mode of parody on the margins of western politics” (2011, 2). Also known as stiob in Russian slang, the parody is a form of political cultural critique in which the actors take on the language and culture of mainstream politics to such an extent that it is difficult to tell if the actor is being sincere or critical. This tactic was evident in the Best Party platform. It states: “The Best Party’s platform is based on the best of all other platforms. We mostly base it on platforms that have been the base of Nordic and North-European welfare societies. That has a very good ring to it at this moment in history” (Besti Flokkurinn 2010, n.p.).¹ In other words, the Best Party will build its platform based on what is popular at the time. Implied is a critique of populist and mainstream politics during election campaigns: handing out empty promises.

The rest of the text is also ambiguous, combing mainstream political discourse like “transparency” into meaningless slogans such as “sustainable transparency” (sjálfbært gagnsæi), shedding light on the fact that the discourse is indeed meaningless. Before listing the thirteen points of their “ten-point” platform, the group promises: “We are going to attend all meetings and always be cheerful and fun, but also, speculative, responsible, and diligent.” This is a straightforward critique of mainstream politicians who are known for the opposite traits.

This has been one modus operandi of party members since they came into power. They have focused “on getting things done as best as we can through ‘besting’ and not getting stuck in political dialogues and name-calling that is only hurtful to people and to the society and that, in their view, does not solve any issues.” Weekly meetings of Best Party council members and supporters emphasize the importance of keeping true to their original sense of naiveté in the political realm. They do this through hugging and kissing, for example, and by focusing on humility and vulnerability. I have seen people at these meetings with tears in their eyes, even crying, when the political pressure boiled over. Jón Gnarr has said that he cried publicly at a meeting when he felt the pressure was too much (“Jón Gnarr grét á fjölmennum fundi” 2012). Best Party meetings are an attempt to create a “safe place” where people can speak openly and seek support.

Members of the Best Party have said publicly that they did not see themselves as politicians. Best Party council member Óttarr Proppé has been active in the music scene in Iceland. He plays in a punk band named Rass with Sigurður Björn Blöndal, the mayor’s advisor. One song on their album, “Burt með kvótann,” became popular and could be heard in schoolyards and other public spaces. The lyrics offer a sharp critique of Icelandic fishing policy, access to the natural resources, and the neoliberalization of the fishing industry. Another song on the same album criticizes politicians and people who supported the construction of the biggest dam in Iceland, Kárahnjúkar, during which a large portion of land was flooded. People from all over the world came to protest the dam, not least because it was built to provide electricity for new aluminum plants. A rock group called Dr. Spock, of which Óttarr is also a member, recorded a song about Condoleezza Rice that criticizes US foreign policy and global capitalism. So these Best Party leaders are not politicians in the traditional sense but people engaging in highly politicized acts.

The medium is the message, and it is a message that people who voted for the party are hearing. Voters from all across the political spectrum supported the Best Party, which offered no plan of action. Instead it promised to break all of its promises, make corruption more visible, and advocate for “sustainable transparency” in addition to calling for a drug-free Parliament by 2020. Although the message is barely comprehensible, people were able to relate to it and vote for it.

Time for a (New) Party

The Best Party election results can be explained in part by the social and economic crash in Iceland in 2008 and the so-called Pots and Pans Revolution of January 2009. The municipal elections took place just after the publication of the best-selling nine-volume report of the Special Investigation Commission on the economic crash and its causes (Rannsóknarnefnd Alþingis 2010). Although the election results could be explained by people not wanting to vote for the old political parties that had been in power before the crash, that explanation gets us only so far. There seems to be something behind the recent shift that is different from the odd election of so-called “populist parties” or famous individuals. There seems to be something new and different going on here.

Shortly before Christmas 2010, I attended a brunch with members of the Best Party. As I stood in the hallway talking to Jón Gnarr, I realized I had lost his attention. He had spotted a child’s Darth Vader mask sitting on a shelf next to us. He later sent out a Christmas greeting from the Mayor of Reykjavík on his Facebook site wearing a Darth Vader mask and a Santa Claus hat, standing in front of a Christmas tree.² Jón Gnarr regularly uses social media to communicate with the citizens and was named NEXPO’s “web hero of the year” in early 2013. The jury said that Jón Gnarr had presented a unique example regarding the use of social media and had revolutionized the conceptual thinking of a whole nation through his Facebook page (“Jón Gnarr vefhetja ársins á NEXPO” 2013).

The Darth Vader Christmas message is an example of how Jón Gnarr uses symbols of popular culture and the media to send an ambiguous message. In this example, he took on the role of father and protector while simultaneously referring to a surrealistic fantasy world whose famous antagonist contradicts the archetypal father figure. Meanwhile, he constantly communicates through humor and the absurd, reflecting the surrealistic anarchist political vision he stands for.

In an interview on November 8, 2010, on Icelandic national television’s current affairs program, Kastljós, Jón Gnarr described himself as the Predator in local politics and referred to himself as Whoopi Goldberg in the movie Ghost.³ People understand these references to pop culture. He doesn’t use the usual political jargon. He is also unafraid to stop in mid-interview to ask his assistant for information about something he needs to confirm, an act almost unheard of in Icelandic political media where politicians usually answer questions by not answering them and comment on issues of which they have little or no knowledge.

In another example, Jón Gnarr opened the Reykjavík Fashion Festival in 2011. He started out by reading from a biography of a former soldier who described what it had been like to walk through the cities of Germany after the end of World War II, with people dying unnoticed on the side of the road and seeing a woman washing herself with water where the body of a dead child floated nearby. Looking around while he spoke, I sensed uneasiness. The audience was there to see high fashion and sip blue vodka cocktails. At first a few people laughed nervously. Whispers went through the crowd. “What is he talking about?” “Why is he lecturing us?” He continued reading the description by the author of how shocked he was when he and other soldiers opened up a crate of goods sent to German war survivors. It contained only red lipstick! But the soldier described how he watched a woman with eyes that did not reflect the will to survive reach out for a lipstick and in putting it on, in the act of decorating herself, she came back to life and felt human again. What had appeared to be a criticism of people engaged in such trivial pursuits as fashion was in fact a commentary on how fashion can be an important part of being human.

The speech reflected some of the Best Party’s priorities as well. Although leaders must make budget cuts, they must also set aside some funds for supporting humanity and peace. Although there isn’t enough money for a new nursery school, the party has encouraged artists to paint murals on city walls, changed the main street into a pedestrian-only area during part of the summer, encouraged bicycling and environmentally friendly acts, and brought out tables and chairs to create a space for people to gather together and be human. The mayor has joined the group Mayors for Peace, and the emphasis of the Best Party is humanity, nature, culture, and peace (mannúð, náttúra, menning og friður). True to this vision, Jón Gnarr has refused to greet a captain of a German battleship that came to the Reykjavík harbor, has discussed human rights with Chinese representatives, and has openly spoken on behalf of refugees.

The “Best” Cure for Sick Politics

Taking over a city after an economic crash does not provide much space for going beyond the essentials. After the Best Party came into office, it learned that the financial situation of the city was even worse than expected. Orkuveita Reykjavíkur, the utility company in which the city has majority ownership, was in serious debt, one equivalent to four years of city tax revenues. The scale was on par with the financial blow the national government suffered with the fall of the banks. In addition, cuts to the city budget had been delayed by draining the utility company. If the company weren’t cleaned up and refinanced, the city would go bankrupt. With such high stakes, utility workers were laid off and utility costs went up. City staff were laid off, and the city closed down or combined nursery schools, elementary schools, and more, cutting back services of all kinds. These actions were not popular. Teachers and parents, the elderly, and many other interest groups demanded meetings with members of the city council. Each group lobbied for their issues to be put first on the city’s priority list.

The Best Party suffered from the fallout. Best Party council member Einar Örn Benediktsson said that since they were not trying to get reelected, they were not afraid to make difficult and unpopular decisions. This differentiated the Best Party from previous ruling parties. By refusing to deal with the city’s financial chaos as it was developing, these parties made things worse in the long run. Jón Gnarr addressed the “sick” culture of politics that had prevailed in the city when introducing budget cuts for the year 2011. In his speech he compared the city to an alcoholic father who holds his family captive with his drinking. (In fact, Jón Gnarr has described the Best Party as more of a self-help organization than a political party [Gnarr 2010].) The sickness creates tension in the family, and the family manages the tension by supporting the sick authority figure and ignoring the needs of each member. The codependency of other family members then gives the authority figure power to manipulate the situation and feed his own disease. At a conference in the spring of 2012, Jón Gnarr said that even though he had worked in mental asylums, a Volvo manufacturing company in Sweden, as a taxi driver, in the media and in theater, he had never encountered such a sick culture as that of politics.

The Best Party issued a video during the campaign in which a party member sang an Icelandic version of Tina Turner’s song “Simply the Best.” It featured Jón Gnarr and other party members walking around the city, kissing babies, and smiling to people. The places that were chosen have deep meaning for the citizens of Reykjavík—for instance, Hljómskálagarðurinn (the city center park) and Perlan (a building and restaurant built over hot water tanks constructed during the era of Davíð Oddsson as mayor). Oddsson is also the former prime minister and was a national bank manager during the economic crash. The construction of Perlan was highly criticized and represents the “old Iceland” and the policies that led to the economic crash. The video was a big hit during the election campaign and has been viewed more than 300,000 times on YouTube.⁴

Growing Up on the Outside

During the election campaign, the Best Party had a slogan, “Áfram allskonar,” meaning “ahead for all kinds,” or “ahead for everything” or “all kinds of everything.” The use of the word allskonar again reflects the party’s use of words that mean everything and simultaneously nothing. The slogan reflects the type of anarchism that Jón Gnarr and other Best Party members support.

Jón Gnarr’s book Indíáninn (The Indian [Gnarr 2006]), the first in his trilogy of fictional biographies, focuses on his childhood years. The second book in the trilogy, Sjóræninginn (The Pirate [Gnarr 2012]) focuses on his early teenage years. He writes about isolation from his family and society and the bullying he encountered during these years. He tells the story of how mainstream ideas of being and acting were limiting and in particular how they limited understanding of diversity, how teachers were blind to the violence in front of them, how adults gave up on him and teachers wouldn’t even report that he wasn’t at school most of the time because of the bullying he was enduring, how the system allowed him and others to fall through the cracks as a cost society is willing to pay to maintain order. In the books, particularly in The Pirate, he writes about how punk came into his life “like a liberating angel,” how he got interested in anarchism, and how it is a humane political approach that allows space for diversity, the individual, and society. Speaking through his own personal experience, he explores how the personal extends into the political.

These books are another example of how Jón Gnarr and the Best Party have focused on “de-powering” mainstream ideas and how, through his actions, Jón Gnarr has changed the image of political power that focuses on maintaining the divide between the people and authority figures. Jón Gnarr has moved the image of the mayor of Reykjavík from being “one of them” to being “one of us.” After these books came out, I heard a number of people of all ages start a discussion with the words, “You know, I have never been a fan of Jón Gnarr and didn’t vote for the Best Party, but . . .”—and then they would talk about how important it was for them personally that an authority figure came forward and talked about his feelings and admitted his faults. They talk about how he works on creating an environment where he can function. Following the discussion, people then would talk about their own experiences and admit how they sometimes feel out of control of their lives, actions, and circumstances. In an interview of February 20, 2013, on Kastljós, Jón Gnarr discussed openly his problems with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and how it has affected his life, schooling, and work. Many people posted the interview on their Facebook page, and a flood of discussion echoed the discussions I had heard after the books came out.

One of Jón Gnarr’s first acts as the mayor of Reykjavík was to open the Gay Pride festival in 2010. Instead of a speech full of politically correct words, he showed up as Fröken Reykjavík, or Miss Reykjavík, who is “a girl like no one else” (stúlka engum örðum lík). The name, again, refers to a popular song by the music group Ríó Trío, which most Icelanders know and can identify with. The act combines comic performance with a strong political message.

In August 2012 Jón Gnarr again attended the Gay Pride festival in Reykjavík, this time in drag as a member of the Russian activist group Pussy Riot. In October 2012 the members of Pussy Riot were awarded the LennonOno Grant for Peace in Reykjavík alongside Lady GaGa, the late Christopher Higgins, John Perkins, author of the book Economic Hit Man, and activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed in Gaza in 2003. Jón Gnarr attended the ceremony in his Obi Wan Kenobi robe. In his speech he once again articulated his vision of world peace and his belief “that empathy is the very core of humanity.”⁵

Óttarr Proppé, head of the Reykjavík board of education, also participated in the Gay Pride parade in drag. Óttarr is known for crossing boundaries, being the lead singer of nationally famous hard rock bands that draw crowds of mostly young men. Yet in his role as one of the lead singers of the group Dr. Spock, he is famous for wearing costumes and clothes that are on the margins of mainstream gender roles, such as high-heeled platform shoes. And in his role as lead man in a group called HAM, he performs the hit song “Ingimar” about the love of two men.⁶ Neither Jón Gnarr nor Óttarr is gay, but they support diversity and everyone’s right to be as they are.

Both Jón Gnarr and the rest of the Best Party do not categorize themselves politically, although they have aligned themselves with anarchist parties such as the Pirate Party in Germany. The Best Party describes its political line as “anarcho-surrealism.” In a spring 2012 interview Jón Gnarr stirred up his political opponents when he said that since taking over as mayor and seeing up close what the extreme neoliberal economic politics have done to the city and country, he now considers himself more of a socialist, an anarcho-surrealistic socialist. Since Jón Gnarr and the Best Party came into existence, a new concept has taken root—Gnarrism—which reflects how both lucid and ambiguous the message is. Dominic Boyer (2013) has said that Gnarrism reflects fun and the joy of life. In my view it also reflects a deep political vision that strives to be nonpolitical but contains the basic values of humanitarianism, peace, nature, culture, respect, and humility. The language and actions that party members use to convey these values is then surreal and ambiguous, risking misunderstanding or even ridicule.

During the election campaign the Best Party was criticized for not being democratic because it did not hold primary elections within the party. The party was criticized for being composed mostly of old male friends, all the same age, coming from similar backgrounds. Much of this criticism is true and echoes criticism of most political parties, even radical ones such as the African National Congress. But has the lack of diversity among party members resulted in an agenda that seeks to limit political participation? I suggest not. During the election campaign the Best Party bonded closely with Betri Reykjavík (Better Reykjavík), a company founded by computer scientist Gunnar Grímsson to facilitate citizen participation in the local political process. This cooperation continued after the election and resulted in the first democratic opportunity for citizens to vote online regarding the city’s spending. Called participant budgeting, voters could go to the Better Reykjavík website and offer ideas about how to spend public funds. To participate in the election, voters signed into Better Reykjavík via a secure system and chose where they wanted to apply their vote—for either new projects or maintenance. They then prioritized what they wanted done. They could “like” the proposed budget, as in the Facebook model, or vote for other ideas. The results were then considered and either forwarded to the appropriate governing bodies or recycled for further voting. The final budgetary decisions resulted in ISK 300 million in public funding going to 180 projects in all ten neighborhoods of the city. In the report Northern Lights: Nordic Cities of Opportunity (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2012), Reykjavík is the only city to receive a high score for its political environment. The report credits the city for giving citizens a voice through participant budgeting.

Although the Best Party has indicated that it abides by an anarchist-surreal conceptual model, members have not wanted to define themselves any further. The party does not adhere to any kind of “high theory” or school of thought named after a great thinker (Graeber 2004, 4). The meaning seems to lie in action and the transformative nature of anarchism, a nature that aims at creating space for a world where people are free to govern themselves, though not the way neoliberals or capitalists would define it. The party operates on an underlying belief that there are many possible roads to any end and that the institutions we are accustomed to can—and should be—broken up, reconstructed, and rethought. At “best,” the Best Party seems to have come to a consensus about what is “Best,” and how to “Best” things and issues through actions of “Besting.”

Because of the nature of anarchist politics and movements, the analytical models most often used to study social movements or political parties are not sufficient to understand the Best Party as a cultural and political phenomenon. I found it helpful to look beyond mainstream anthropological studies toward cultural and media studies research on subcultures and music (see Hall 1992; Hebdige 1979) as well as research on punk movements (see Davies 1996; 1997; Phillipov 2006; Sabin 1999). Although I relied heavily on ethnographic research and data, performance-based approaches provide a built-in model for studying politics and power.

In studying the Best Party, one can use performance-based approaches to illustrate negotiable processes and symbolism at work, looking at both visual performance and narrative as a way of speaking and communicating (Bauman 1975; 1986). Since performance is reflective in nature, it provides a space for the creation, storage, and transmission of both identity and culture, a space where behavior is performed and goes through a process of reflexivity (Fine and Speer 1992, 8).

Although the Best Party does not define the anarchism its members adhere to, one can see a thread leading back to anarchist and surrealist movements of the twentieth century, such as the Situationists, who paved the way for the student uprisings in Paris in the late 1960s. There also seems to be a strong connection to the art and literary culture of punk and the cultural movement around the RE/Search archive and oral history project, established in San Francisco in the late 1970s.⁷ Both of these movements encourage the creation of situations in which a particular performance whose aim is to produce cultural and political awareness, if not change, is made possible. This goes back to André Breton’s surrealist manifestoes, which call for the exploration of the irrational shadow of official culture with the aim of altering conceptions of reality, common sense, and what is considered natural and unchangeable.

Political anthropology has a long history as a field within social and cultural anthropology, moving slowly from studies of nonstate societies to state societies and the interaction of groups with the state (see Aretxaga 1997; 2005; Gledhill 1994; Lazar 2007; 2008; 2010; Navaro-Yashin 2002; 2003; Vincent 2002). Nonetheless the focus has mostly been on groups that stand outside of political power, perhaps partly because of problems of access to those in power. Anthropological research models have been developed for the analysis of various kinds of political groups, traditional political parties, single-issue mass movements, and separatist groups, religious or political. The Best Party does not fit well into any of these categories. It is not built on a single issue, as we see in many of the social movements described in anthropological texts, for example, women’s rights (see Reddy 2005; Kristmundsdóttir 1997; 2004; Simonian 2005; Stephen 2005), HIV (Susser 2005), land and water rights (Sylvian 2005), globalization (Albro 2005; Doane 2005; Grimes 2005), and peace (Rutherford 2005; Bond 2005). The group has no history in politics and does not seek to ally itself with any particular social grouping or sector, as many separatist movements do. By using classic models of analysis, focusing on single-issue social movements, or political philosophy or classical political science, I believe it is impossible to grasp this sense of being and acting, to understand the wide, creative, lifestyle politics behind the Best Party and its version of anarchism. A new model of study and analysis is called for in order to provide a new mode of identifying political formations.