April 9, 2017 - 23:10
Angela Meng
Professor Jody Cohen
Unsettling Literacy
9 April 2017
What is Activism?
Resistance? Allyship? Activism? All of the Above?
Last week in class, while in our off-campus Praxis site groups, we discussed “activism,” specifically, whether what we’ve doing at our Praxis sites should or can be counted as “activism.” While contemplating the question, one of my classmates brought into the conversation the word “resistance,” and the difference between resistance and activism. We agreed that it can only be considered resistance when we go into prisons to lead workshops, like the ones we did with the youth in the women’s and men’s prisons in Philadelphia, and not an act of activism.
So what the hell is “activism?” This is the topic of our second web event, and a question it seems like we’ve been grappling with lately in class. We all know the term activism nowadays, you can hardly stay informed about anything in the world without hearing the term “activism.” This paper will seek to not only answer the question of “What is activism?” but also explain and define, to the best of my abilities, terms such as “resistance” and “allyship” which are not only highly related but also, through defining and understanding, deepen our understanding of what we mean when we talk about “activism.”
So to begin with “resistance,” we’ll break the word down to its fundamental meaning and origin, to how it is applied today in activism. When thinking of “resistance,” I think of “The Resistance,” as in the French resistance, and The Resistance in Star Wars, organizations that actively refuse to accept or comply with a ruling government system. Surely these groups could be considered as rebel activists, as they actively resisted, refused to comply with an unjust system.
Yet, when we spoke of going into prisons to lead workshops, we decided it wasn’t activism, but a form of resistance. Activism would be to actively seek political or social change, but while we probably all had activism in mind while at our workshops, we all knew that we weren’t working towards prison abolition, simply saying no to compliance. Though I think I should be clear at this point, to say that I do not claim that resistance or allyship are not key points of activism, nor that the three can’t intersect and be come under the overarching term of “activism,” but that resistance itself is not and should not be called activism. In the examples of the French resistance and The Resistance in Star Wars, both resistance groups were activist groups because, one, both groups fit with our definition of resistance, in that they refused to comply with the ruling government, and two, that they not only resisted, but vigorously acted towards political change.
Similarly though in another way, allyship can’t be considered activism either, unless the correct actions are undertaken. While allies, people who do not identify with the oppressed group they are “allying” themselves with in attempt to aid their resistance and activism, have been highly important and necessary throughout human social progress, it may not be so true today. In “Accomplices Not Allies: Abolishing The Ally Industrial Complex,” it is argued that a better fitting term to replace “ally” with in today’s setting is “accomplice.” In “allyship,” there’s the idea of “we,” that “we most likely will have to work together.” But when working together with people who are activists, actively trying to incite political or social change, there’s a line between being someone is aiding the activism, and someone who simply supports the cause. In the article, it’s explained that the difference between an ally and an accomplice lays in the risk. While the risks for the ally “who provides support or solidarity (usually on a temporary basis)” are fairly low, the risks for accomplices are much higher for they fight together with the activists, “becoming complicit in a struggle towards liberation” (Accomplices Not Allies: Abolishing The Ally Industrial Complex). In which case, an accomplice isn’t all that different from an activist, while the line between ally and activist are quite broad.
Using the graphic novel and movie V for Vendetta, we may further understand the difference between an ally and an accomplice through analyzing the characters. V, the masked anarchist who actively seeks to not only dismantle but completely destroy the fascist dictatorship that rules the society, is our activist in this example. Sixteen year old Evey is both our example of allyship as well as accomplice. After V saves Evey’s life, a life who has lost everyone she’s loved to the fascist governing party, she slowly transitions through allyship until she fully transforms into an accomplice to V.
In the original graphic novel, V’s history and background is never fully disclosed, and remains an enigma that, therefore, can best be described as the culmination of a history of oppression in an unjust system, an idea of rebellion. In the beginning, Evey may be viewed as an ally to his anarchist cause, as she, having personally suffered from the ruling system, supports and resists against complacency, which can be seen in the beginning when she fights back against the oppressive government’s law enforcement force. After V puts her through a series of torturous and spirit-crushing tests, we find Evey’s transformation from being an ally to an accomplice. When Evey dons the Guy Fawkes mask that V famously wears, she fully becomes an accomplice, someone is “complicit in a struggle towards liberation” (Accomplices Not Allies: Abolishing The Ally Industrial Complex).
So back to the original conversation from class about why the prison workshops we led as part of our internship at YASP. We’d decided that it was resistance, and not activism, because we believed that we were on the side of the line where we were providing support and solidarity to the young people affected by these unjust policies and laws, but weren’t directly working to change the system that allows and causes these situations. Using the example of Evey in V for Vendetta, what we were doing can best be described as Evey’s pre-transition phase where she is resisting through opening herself to the struggle and the fight, but not directly joining. We were, in that situation, more allies than accomplices, providing more support than doing anything to specifically change the state of their lives.
Because of the long and complicated history of colonization and racism within the United States, and the rest of the world, being an activist requires someone to do more than simply be an informed citizen and be liberal, it requires them to do more than simply support and occasionally stand in solidarity with the marginalized groups. Today, we demand the allies to do more, we demand that they join in direct action. Especially for a white ally, allyship means nothing and does nothing to help progress the cause aside from further benefiting from a history of colonization. Successful activism requires allies to become accomplices, requires people to forget “helping” or “joining,” which carry negative connotations of colonization and exploitation, and to take on the risk of working with people who are actively fighting against a system designed to keep them silenced.
Ultimately, activism isn’t simply being liberal or well informed in the politics surrounding an issue you are concerned about, it is about the action of campaigning for political and/or social change. And so, without truly forgetting yourself and your ego, you can never be more than a grassroot, nonprofit supporter or ally. You must forget yourself and your own desires so that you may fully work for the improvement of other people’s lives, “Direct action is really the best and may be the only way to learn what it is to be an accomplice” (Accomplices Not Allies: Abolishing The Ally Industrial Complex). It’s not enough to simply say “No!” to policies or situations you do not agree with. Activism is going beyond resisting and refusing to comply, and it’s more than being an “ally” who provides support, sympathy, and solidarity, it is the act of working against a system that doesn’t want to change and facing the consequences of social and political rebellion.
Works Cited:
Admin. "Accomplices Not Allies: Abolishing the Ally Industrial Complex." Indigenous Action Media, 13 Oct. 2016. Web. 09 Apr. 2017. <http://www.indigenousaction.org/accomplices-not-allies-abolishing-the-ally-industrial-complex/>.