Activism

Types of Activism

Activism can be performed in groups or individually. Group activism is when a collective of likeminded people agree to perform a form of activism at a certain place and time. Activism by groups is usually done in a public setting. Contrastingly, individual activism is the execution of a form of activism by one person on their own time and accord. Individual forms of activism can be done both publicly and privately. For instance, a person may chant outside of a government building by themselves demanding for a change of policy. On the other hand, a person can decide to not buy a product anymore because the company which produces that product contributes to funding a war. When not participating in a form of activism with a group, individuals can still be inspired by movements or group efforts to take action to achieve a political or social goal. For instance, people can share or create posts on social media which spread information and awareness about a social or political issue and movement. The spread of information to people across the internet can inspire many to participate in multiple types of activism listed below to forcibly drive change to happen. 

Types of Activism:

Protest: “to make a statement or gesture in objection to” (“Protest (v)” np) and “a complaint, objection, or display of unwillingness usually to an idea or a course of action” (“Protest (n)” np).

• Example: Workers marched through the streets of the downtown area of their city on a weekday in protest of unfair salaries.

Boycott: “to engage in a concerted refusal to have dealings with (a person, a store, an organization, etc.) usually to express disapproval or to force acceptance of certain conditions” (“Boycott (v)” np).

• Example: A person who condemns the actions of the Israeli Defense Force refuses to buy McDonalds because McDonalds provided thousands of free meals to IDF soldiers.

Resistance: “an act or instance of opposition” (“Resistance (n)” np).

• Example: Cal Poly faculty refused to work because they were not receiving fair pay.

Nonviolent Action: “Nonviolent action refers to those methods of protest, resistance, and intervention without physical violence” (“Nonviolent Action Defined” np) in which violence refers to “the use of a physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy” (“Violence (n)” np).

• Example: A crowd of people lay down on the ground holding up signs in silence.

Petitions: “A written request or call for change signed by many people in support of a shared cause or concern” (“Petition (n)” np). Petitions can be addressed to any individual in a leadership position. Examples of leadership positions are a mayor, a senator, a president of a club, a president of an academic institution, or the president of a country.

• Example: Students signed a petition regarding the school’s need to increase the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables on campus. For clarification, they signed the petition because they agree that the school needs to take action to provide students with a greater amount of fresh produce.

Civil Disobedience: “refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government” (“Civil Disobedience (n)” np). Civil disobedience can also relate to the disobedience of social standards, or “the perceived informal, mostly unwritten, rules that define acceptable and appropriate actions within a given group or community” (“Defining Social Norms” 1).

• Example: A large group of protesters block the freeway entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge while holding a large sign that says “Flowers are blooming in Antarctica. The Climate Crisis is Real.”

Political Participation: Individuals can vote to bring people into office who promise to take direct action by passing legislation which eliminates certain issues which the public advocates against. Citizens can also interact with politicians by going to talk to local government officials about impending issues. Furthermore, citizens themselves can decide to run for a political position to spread awareness about issues to a larger audience while having a greater amount of power to directly change the law.

• Example: A U.S. citizen voted for a politician who shares common beliefs about protecting a person with a uterus’ right to an abortion.

Social Movement: “an organized effort to change laws, policies, or practices by people who do not have the power to effect change through conventional channels” (Mack, et. al 6).

• Example: The #MeToo Movement

Volunteering: Volunteering is participating in an activity at their own will or out of interest with no pay. Regarding activism, “Volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges, and it can transform the pace and nature of development. Volunteerism benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer by strengthening trust, solidarity and reciprocity among citizens, and by purposefully creating opportunities for participation” (“Volunteering and Social Activism” 2).

• Example: A person volunteers to serve meals to the unhoused people within their city.

Fundraising: “the organized activity of raising funds (as for an institution or political cause)” (“Fundraising (n)” np).

• Example: A group of people raised enough money by advertising a cause to be able to provide 10,000 meals to the unhoused population of their city.

Individual Habits of Sustainability: Lifestyle choices intended to reduce waste creation by committing to sustainability through daily actions.

• Example: A woman uses public transit such as a bus to get to work every day instead of driving to reduce her carbon footprint. Funding public transport systems instead of large oil corporations can signal to the city to upgrade and extend their public transport system to more neighborhoods around the surrounding areas.

Ethical Consumerism: “political activism based on the premise that purchasers in markets consume not only goods but also, implicitly, the process used to produce them …  By choosing certain products over others, or even whether to purchase at all, consumers can embrace or reject particular environmental and labor practices [of a company] and make other value claims based on the ethical values they hold” (Kirchhoff, np).

• Example: A person may not buy makeup from a certain cosmetic brand because the brand tests their products and/or ingredients of their products on animals. Buying a product from that cosmetic brand increases their profits, allowing for the continuation of animal testing within the company’s laboratories.

  Examples of Activism Within English 145 Readings

Chomsky's Media Control

Noam Chomsky's Media Control emphasizes the dangers of the ‘bewildered herd’ that exists within society. The role of the bewildered herd is to "be 'spectators,' not participants in action" and members are "allowed to elect leaders but fail to participate in democracy" (Chomsky 16). Members of the bewildered herd are classified as citizens who lack the motivation to provoke change among policies and procedures that harm various groups or environments of the world. For the sake of democracy, society must consist of individuals who take initiative when their values are misrepresented or overlooked. Ultimately, those who partake in activism simultaneously separate themselves from the bewildered herd and stand out as action takers rather than incognizant ‘zombies’. 

Discourse and Power in Ireland's Repeal the 8th Movement & Repealing Ireland's Eighth Amendment: Abortion Rights and Democracy Today 

The 8th amendment in Ireland did not allow for women’s abortion rights, but activism spurred change to abolish the amendment. Drażkiewicz and Strong present the transformation of the Irish Constitution, "In 2018, the Irish public voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, which since 1983 banned abortion in the country" (561). Ireland has been heavily influenced by the Catholic Church, an institution that does not condone abortion. The authority of the Catholic Church created a complex relationship between church and politics. Drażkiewicz and Strong also explore the public's regard to the church, presenting, "Since the scandals emerging in the 1990s concerning abuses in state‐subsidized and Church‐run welfare, health and education institutions, the moral authority and social prestige of the Catholic Church has collapsed (561). The Catholic Church had a strong hold on the Irish government which has weakened through scandals, altering Irish politics. The repeal of the 8th amendment is representative of the public perspective on the Catholic Church, but change for women’s rights was onset through grass-roots activism. Advocates for repealing the 8th amendment promoted women's rights using abortion stories and encouragement to create a more regulated environment for abortion. The death of Savita Halappanavar, a woman who suffered a septic miscarriage after being refused abortion, brought public attention to the dangers of the illegality of abortion in Ireland (Drażkiewicz and Strong 564). Activists were able to promote the Repeal the 8th movement on social media through visual representation and sharing women's testimonies of their negative experiences with the illegality of abortion. The use of visual symbols and mottos were critical elements of the movement's campaign as "black sweaters with the word ‘Repeal’ written in a bold white typeface became synonymous with the campaign and a mural painted by a political street artist known as ‘Maser’ became the unofficial iconography of the campaign" (McKimmons and Caffrey 202). Photographs of the murals and sweaters grew popular on social media thus, massing attention for the movement and the campaigners' voices. An assembly of 99 randomly chosen citizens voted on the amendment and “66.4% of voters in Ireland chose to repeal [the 8th amendment]" (McKimmons and Caffrey 200). Ultimately, the productivity among frustrated citizens effectively challenged the traditional, Catholic ideologies and policies in Ireland. The overturn of the 8th amendment was made possible through the individuals who voiced their concerns by using grass-roots activism, exemplifying the importance of being a proactive citizen.

Ethical Consumerism in Finland

Participating in activism does not require a large group of people or immensely vigorous action to be effective. Small-scale everyday choices made by consumers can be transformed into sustainable, ethical actions that have a positive long-lasting effect on the environment and the wellbeing of others. While the choice of switching browsers from Google to Ecosia or the simple recycling of a plastic water-bottle may initially seem unimportant to some, "individual consumers can have a significant role, through their daily purchasing decisions, in promoting ethical corporate practices" (Uusitalo and Oksanen 215). Additionally, boycotting businesses that practice unethical habits such as "the use of child labor, suppressing or preventing labor unions, and testing on animals" is a beneficial method of participating in activism that requires minor changes to regular consumer habits (Uusitalo and Oksanen 215). Those who wish to ignite awareness among unethical corporations and normalized social habits (which regularly disregard the social and environmental damage they inflict) can easily provoke change through implementing sustainable practices and choices into their daily life. 

*To gain more insight into ethical consumerism, please visit the Ethical Consumerism Course Webpage.*