Environmental Program Eval TIG Week: The Boiling Frog and the Normalization of Chaos: Where Are The Liberatory Evaluators? by David Hanson

Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Hi, I am David Hanson, Environmental Leadership Program Senior Fellow.

There is an adage about a frog in boiling water. The story goes that if you toss a frog into a pot of already boiling water, it will immediately jump out. But, if you place the frog in lukewarm water and slowly raise the temperature, it won’t perceive the danger and will slowly boil to death.

This tale, while likely apocryphal, serves as a powerful metaphor for how we, as a society, are becoming desensitized to the escalating pressure of our times. We are surrounded by increasing chaos or polycrises – anthropogenic climate disasters, social unrest, economic instability, political polarization. Yet, many seem to be passively accepting these as the new normal. Just like the frog, we are slowly becoming accustomed to the rising temperatures, while failing to recognize the imminent danger we are in.

Think about it:

• Capitalist-ecological crisis: Wildfires rage, floods inundate coastal cities, glaciers melt and record-breaking heat waves become commonplace. Yet, beyond fleeting concern and greenwashing campaigns, the machinery of excessive capitalist production churns on, prioritizing profit over planetary survival.
• Social injustice: Systemic inequalities persist, and marginalized communities continue to face discrimination and oppression. Outrage flares on social media, but true systemic change remains elusive.
• Political turmoil: Disinformation and political polarization erode trust in institutions, leading to a sense of constant instability and uncertainty.

This normalization of chaos is incredibly dangerous. It breeds apathy, inaction, and ultimately, acceptance of a deeply flawed and unsustainable status quo.

Where are the Liberatory Program Evaluators?

This is where anti-racist, anti-oppression, anti-caste, and decolonial program evaluators come in. These evaluators are driven by a deep and evolving commitment to social justice and liberation. They see evaluation as an emancipatory, albeit imperfect tool for social change for its ability to amplify marginalized voices and challenge the status quo.

In the face of the boiling frog syndrome, liberatory program evaluators play a critical role.

Hot Tips

• Raising Awareness of True Impact By documenting the human cost of climate disasters, the perpetuation of inequalities, and the erosion of democracy, liberatory evaluators can help break through the normalization of chaos and awaken society to the urgency of the situation.
• Promoting Critical Reflection: Evaluators can facilitate critical reflection on the underlying systems and structures contributing to the rising temperature. They can ask tough questions (even in the professional field of evaluation), challenge assumptions, and push for transformative change.
• Community Power-Building: By working in solidarity with communities most affected by harmful systems and policies, liberatory evaluators can help those communities make sense of their experiences, build resilience, and advocate for change.
• Holding Power Accountable: Evaluators can use their findings to hold those in power accountable for creating and perpetuating the conditions that lead to chaos and suffering.
• Dreaming and Practicing of New Worlds: Evaluators can lean on imagination and foresight to envision and build towards a better future while learning from the past and remaining steadfast in the present. 

The boiling frog analogy is a stark reminder that we cannot afford to become complacent in the face of escalating crises. Liberatory program evaluators have a unique and powerful role to play in working towards the reimagination and reordering of society.

Rad Resource

A fellow evaluator shared a link to this blog post by Margaret Killjoy that captures the existential, self-reflective thought experiment that this writing aims to foster.

 Act like we’re about to die.

Act like we might not die right away.

Act like we might have a chance to stop this.

Act like everything will be okay.

The American Evaluation Association is hosting Environmental Program Evaluation TIG Week with our colleagues in the Environmental Program Evaluation Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from our EPE TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this AEA365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the AEA365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an AEA365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to AEA365@eval.org. AEA365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.