What is activism?
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Defining activism: what is an activist?
In this article we explain what activism is. We argue anyone can be an activist. Even though you might not refer to yourself as an ‘activist’, we believe this handbook can be useful for anyone who would like to achieve societal change.
What is activism?
At its most basic, activism means action taken to create social change. Clearly, this is very vague. We probably all agree that attending a climate protest is activism, but what about voting? Buying organic food? Challenging powerful people in your workplace? All of these things have been used as tactics to create social change, but are they activism?
To help us map-out this debate, let’s think of the different definitions of activism as answering the question ‘what actions does it include?’ Answers to this question sit on a spectrum from the most to least inclusive; from the broadest to the narrowest.
Broad definitions
‘My definition of activism is… the practice of addressing an issue, any iss...
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