Activism

"Activist" redirects here. For similar titles, see The Activist (disambiguation).

Barricade at the Paris Commune, March 1871.
Civil rights activists at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom during the civil rights movement in August 1963.
A women's liberation march in Washington, D.C., August 1970.

Activism (or advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate building in a community (including writing letters to newspapers), petitioning elected officials, running or contributing to a political campaign, preferential patronage (or boycott) of businesses, and demonstrative forms of activism like rallies, street marches, strikes, sit-ins, or hunger strikes.

Activism may be performed on a day-to-day basis in a wide variety of ways, including through the creation of art (artivism), computer hacking (hacktivism), or simply in how one chooses to spend their money (economic activism). For example, the refusal to buy clothes or other merchandise from a company as a protest against the exploitation of workers by that company could be considered an expression of activism. However, the term commonly refers to a form of collective action, in which numerous individuals coordinate an act of protest together.[1] Collective action that is purposeful, organized, and sustained over a period of time becomes known as a social movement.[2]

Historically, activists have used literature, including pamphlets, tracts, and books to disseminate or propagate their messages and attempt to persuade their readers of the justice of their cause. Research has now begun to explore how contemporary activist groups use social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action combining politics with technology.[3][4] Left-wing and right-wing online activists often use different tactics. Hashtag activism and offline protest are more common on the left. Working strategically with partisan media, migrating to alternative platforms, and manipulation of mainstream media are more common on the right (in the United States).[5] In addition, the perception of increased left-wing activism in science and academia may decrease conservative trust in science and motivate some forms of conservative activism, including on college campuses.[6] Some scholars have also shown how the influence of very wealthy Americans is a form of activism.[7][8]

Separating activism and terrorism can be difficult and has been described as a 'fine line'.[9]

  1. ^ Tarrow, Sidney (1998). Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139076807. OCLC 727948411.
  2. ^ Goodwin, Jeff; Jasper, James (2009). The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 9781405187640.
  3. ^ Obar, Jonathan; et al. (2012). "Advocacy 2.0: An Analysis of How Advocacy Groups in the United States Perceive and Use Social Media as Tools for Facilitating Civic Engagement and Collective Action". Journal of Information Policy. 2: 1–25. doi:10.5325/jinfopoli.2.2012.1. S2CID 246628982. SSRN 1956352.
  4. ^ Obar, Jonathan (2014). "Canadian Advocacy 2.0: A Study of Social Media Use by Social Movement Groups and Activists in Canada". Canadian Journal of Communication. 39. doi:10.22230/cjc.2014v39n2a2678. SSRN 2254742.
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  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Bohmer, Carol (2010). Rejecting refugees: political asylum in the 21st century. Routledge. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-415-77375-1. OCLC 743396687.