Why Is Activism Important For The Society?

 

Activism plays a vital role in shifting public attention towards specific issues and disseminating a specific strategic framing to shape now public understanding and make sense of an issue, leading to public opinion shifts that may change individual behaviour.

It also targets politicians, judges and bureaucrats, currently in power to change their opinion or behaviour. As some of these are accountable to public opinion to some degree. Activism changes the political fortunes of those in power, to generate support for alternative candidates or fend off challengers during the electoral process. It can also shift the way companies and other organisations behave.

It seeks to influence political outcomes by mobilising citizens who are not political insiders to take actions that generate widespread or well-targeted public attention around issues, usually through generating media coverage of events like protests, confrontations, or strikes.

What Is Activism?

• Activism is the practice of taking action to bring political or social changes. It can involve supporting a particular cause or range of cause or opposing it. It may perform on a day-to-day basis in a wide variety.
• There are various types of activism, from face-to-face conversations to massive protests, from principled behaviour to the unscrupulous, from a polite request to objectionable interference, and from peaceful protests to violent attacks.
• When activism is applied to human rights, it means defending human rights wherever they are threatened or violated. Activism depends on the cause and actions, and a person’s judgement of what is worthwhile. It is typically undertaken by those with less power because those with positions of power and influence can usually accomplish their aims using conventional means.
• Activism can be on behalf of many causes, such as labour, religious, or environmental goals. Some people associate activism with progressive causes that promote equality and the rights of those with less power, but activism can also be used to attack the weak. It is possible to see activism as a spectrum from the local to global, both geographically and about the person.
• Local activism is often about protecting the quality of life of a family or small community. The domain of activism had also expanded inwards, forming the public sphere into personal and private realms,e.g. sexual harassment, bullying and domestic violence. 
• It has played an important role in ending slavery, challenging dictatorships, protecting workers from exploitation, protecting the environment, promoting equality for women, and opposing many other important issues.

Who Is An Activist?

An activist is someone who is active in campaigning for change, normally on political or social issues and activism is what an activist does. Individuals can enter and exit activist roles in a variety of ways, some begin with a small involvement, such as helping with a street stall or attending a public meeting, and gradually become more engaged over the years. 

Many activists are members of groups, which can be small or large, local or global. By operating in groups, activists gain various advantages. Groups serve a personal and social purpose as well as getting tasks done. Activists learn what they can, about the issues so they can be effective in their actions and they take actions according to what they have learned about the issue.

Activists tend to draw on whatever information is useful for their purposes.  Activism is not an activity always performed by those who prefer activism as a profession. The term “activist” may apply broadly to anyone who engages in activism. Every human being is a mini activist, engaging in struggles for different causes throughout his/her life. 

Types Of Activism 

Some forms or types of activism include:

1. Human Rights 

Human rights activism seeks to protect basic rights such as rights to life, citizenship, and property, freedom of movement (constitutional freedoms of thought, expression, religion, peaceful assembly) and others.

The foundations of human rights movements include resistance to colonialism, imperialism, slavery, racism, segregation, patriarchy, and oppression of indigenous people. Human rights activism needs Human rights education, which should include;

• Education about human rights, which includes providing knowledge and understanding of human rights norms and principles, the value that underpins them and the mechanism for their protection. 
• Education through human rights, which includes learning and teaching in a way that respects the rights of both educators and learners.
• Education for human rights includes empowering persons to enjoy and exercise their rights and to respect and uphold the rights of others. 

2. Animal Rights 

Animal rights refer to the idea that many animals have fundamental rights to be treated with respect as individuals, and that they should also have; rights to life, liberty, and freedom from torture that may not be overridden by considerations of aggregate welfare.

The term animal rights are often used synonymously with animal protection or animal liberation. Animal rights activism seeks an end to the status of animals as property, and to their use in the research, food, clothing, and entertainment industries. 

3. Environmental Activism

Environmental activism is defined as the actions of individuals or groups that protect or aid the environment. It can bring important attention to serious issues, mobilising others to use their voices and their votes, to influence political leaders. This form of activism can also have an impact at the corporate level. 

Environmental activism includes the protection of nature or the natural environment driven by a utilitarian conservation ethic or nature-oriented preservationist ethic, protection of the human environment (by pollution prevention or the protection of the cultural heritage or quality of life., and protection of the critical earth system elements or processes such as climate. 

Environmental activism can also lead individuals to become involved with other critical forms of civic engagement, particularly social and racial justice issues.

Methods Of Activism 

Activism has many different methods or tactics to achieve its goals. Some of these methods are;

1. Political Activism/ Judicial Activism 

Political activism or Judicial activism is a philosophy holding that the courts can and should go beyond the applicable law to consider the broader societal implications of its decisions. Judicial activism is employed to promote the conception of the social good.

The definition of judicial activism and whether a specific decision is active are controversial political issues. The legal systems of different nations vary in the extent that judicial activism may be permitted.

2. Internet Activism

In Internet Activism, there is the use of electronic communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular information to large and specific audiences as well as coordination. 

Digital camping is an organised public effort, making collective claims on a target authority, in which civic initiators or supporters use digital media.

3. Economic Activism 

It involves using the economic power of government, consumers, and businesses for social and economic policy change. This may be done through ethical consumerism to reinforce good behaviour and support companies one would like to succeed, or through boycotts or divestment to penalise bad behaviour and pressure companies to change or go out of business. 

Economic activism involves:

• Brand activism: It is the type of activism in which business plays a leading role in the processes of social change.
• Consumer activism consists of activism carried out on consumers' behalf. 
• Shareholder activism involves shareholders using an equity stake in a corporation to pressure its management.

Written By: Sania Nisar