By Ellen Boyle
Activism is a predominant way of expressing care in today's world. Activism is all about the actions done to evoke some form of change and fight against injustices. One may become an activist based on their personal history, experiences or motivations. We have discussed some underlying forms of activism this semester in the “Who Cares?” seminar course. It was often discussed in seminar how activism presents itself in our society and what forms activism can take on. Even though I didn't realize at the beginning of the semester I have now learned that activism can be a multitude of things. Despite our many discussions revolving around care, there was never a devoted class that discussed caring activism at different scales. Care in activism was the topic I wanted to explain throughout my blog posts and highlight how activism can be a scalar quantity that has manifested itself in every subtopic thus far. All forms of activism are rooted in the idea of care and it connects to many of the course themes.
All forms of activism are rooted in the idea of care
The following excerpt blog posts will discuss the connections of caring activism to course activities, concepts and readings.
Part I: Environmental activism in caring communities
A very common form of activism is environmentally based. Climate gentrification and environmental racism were key ideas in week 9 that truly have been on my mind for weeks now. I live in a very suburbial place with what seems like much access to green space and an abundance of mutual area for those in the city. I grew up mainly in these city built green spaces, playing sports, swimming, hiking and making friends. Up until taking this course I had never truly realized that much of my community did not have the same access to the resources that I did. This was due to the injustices within city resources and the lack of care from municipal governments for those in struggling situations. Many of the parks, lakes, sports fields and even open greens spaces where I live are either highly regulated or are inaccessible to those living in the lower income areas of the city. For example many of the parks and playgrounds were located on the “wealthier" sides of town. When reading the article why “green” climate gentrification” threatens poor and vulnerable populations” in class, it made me reflect a lot about my own city. “Typically, these populations have contributed the least to climate change, have had the least access to environmental amenities such as green space, are the most exposed to climate hazards and effects (1), and have the fewest resources to adapt (2-4)”(Anguelovski 2019). This quote from the article really stuck out to me as it details the fact that the populations without access to these city green spaces are then also exposed to the most dangerous environmental effects. I realized that there were certain aspects of my city I took for granted due to my privilege, I did not see these problems before. After reading the article I asked myself the question, why didn't I care about this issue before? Why didn't I notice this large issue in my own community?
...why didn't I care about this issue before? Why didn't I notice this large issue in my own community?
I believe that oftentimes it is hard for youth to recognize and care about the problems and injustices going on in their own communities when there are large divides amongst the population. The video shown in class titled “How 'green gentrification' is pricing out longtime East Boston residents” showed [less] privileged children advocating for the right to green space and talking about their experiences living in [working class neighbourhoods]. As I began reflecting on community care as it relates to environmental activism I realized how these particular issues are swept under the rug because they are on a small scale. Despite this, in further research I have come to know that they are not as small as we may think. These community issues contribute to the larger-scale problems that we see talked about everyday. The issues surrounding inaccessible resources, poverty, environmental racism and classism all contribute to these large detrimental social issues that have been causing problems in our world for centuries. In the activity related to this topic in week nine, we were posed a question “What would a more caring approach to climate change adaptation need to involve?” I think more community wide activism would help aid this issue. If all people regardless of status would speak up for each other about these environmental issues it could evoke positive changes within these communities. Realizing and accepting privilege will lead to more advocacy in aiding those who do not have the same. Caring activism amongst all members would help support the community and overall make a change in a large scale issue by just showing more care.
Part II: Uncare related to negative forms of activism
Despite all of the positive activism that sprouts from genuine care about world issues and injustices, there is a lot of uncare in activism. With today's technology and the ability to spread information, activism is becoming a confusing subject as it relates to care. Performative activism including topics such as slacktivism and clicktivism were discussed in weeks 4, 5 and 10. Activism takes many diverse forms in order to bring about change. Although much of the activism today is rooted in true care and desire to help, there are still negative forms of activism. As social media and trends are constantly on a rise I find myself always questioning the validity of certain forms of activism. As I scroll across my instagram page I see many forms of activism but question what is the reason these caring actions are always posted across social media. Of course I am fully aware that many times the best way to spread news and important topics is through these multimedia resources but it makes it very difficult to distinguish real activism from the performative forms. Performative activism can be rooted in simply uncare as a whole or more care about one's self image, internet trends or the possible fame that could arise from their actions or words. Many times these performative activists have westernized ideologies and sometimes the “us” and “them” mindset, discussed in week 10. This mindset can be very harmful because it creates divides between populations. The entire point of activism is to provide mutual support and care between groups. When activists create these divides it's hard to characterize their actions as care. Activists on social media can often present themselves as quite uncaring and can be considered as selfish. Activism can be negative especially when it is used to perpetuate a certain ideology to a marginalized group.
Slacktivism and clicktivism covered in week 4 and 5 are valid forms of care in my opinion, even small changes can be more effective if they are done for the right reason. I personally don't believe that everyone needs to leave their house to care about an issue or be an activist. If someone is very passionate about an issue by all means I think they should communicate that. With that in mind, activists should be very honest with their intentions and make their kind actions have care behind them. We covered the instagram account “Barbie Savior” in seminar week 10 and even made our own posts and discussed them during the activity. It was very interesting to see what all the groups found but strange to see how performative forms of activism are so common in today's world. I wonder do performative activists care at all about the issues they post on social media? Why go to great lengths to prove yourself if in reality you don't care about the issue you preach about? This discussion meant a lot to me considering in the media performative activism is all you really see. What would be a better way to spread news about needed care and activism without being boastful or uncaring? This is a question I thought about a lot after the activity.
What would be a better way to spread news about needed care and activism without being boastful or uncaring?
Part III: Activism at the University of Guelph
In class week 6 we discussed the various infrastructure of care, predominantly housing. Housing is essential to life itself, we all require shelter in order to have a high quality of life and be supported. There are many forms of housing and shelter, some are not so traditional. Housing is an infrastructure that aids to support, strengthen and build many of our everyday connections and personal routines. A home is a place to care for those in our families, friends, neighbors, guardians, caregivers, roommates and pets. A home itself manifests care, it is where we express ourselves and live with those we care about, we prominently show care within our homes.
A home itself manifests care, it is where we express ourselves and live with those we care about, we prominently show care within our homes.
We talked about housing several times throughout the semester, especially how housing is essential to life and discussion around the current situation at the University of Guelph. There is a large care deficit in regards to housing from the University of Guelph faculty. Currently a housing crisis for university students is ongoing and those in positions of power at the university will not speak out, apologize or even address the issue. There is a true lack of care for their own students. Students participate in activism against this issue by posting it on social media, assisting in newspaper articles and expressing their frustration openly in conversations with other students. In this seminar class we [discussed] student activism as it related to the housing crisis [...] Each individual in the class was able to express their struggles, their frustrations and their ideas surrounding what should be done about the housing crisis [...]. Activism in students with regards to this issue is extremely important so that our voices can be heard, considering the situation at hand is extremely serious. [...] This issue does give students something to relate to each other on and communicate as a solid community. I personally have met many people at the university who are continually struggling to find housing even though it is truly a necessity. Before I had signed a lease on my house I felt so much anxiety and stress wondering what would happen to me if I was unable to find affordable housing. The stress consumed much of my own free time and distracted me from my work. I am not the only one who feels this way[...]. The lack of care, reassurance or solution from the university made me feel even more anxious as it feels like they truly don't care what would happen to students without housing. I hope we receive some direction soon as it becomes increasingly difficult by the day to correct this issue. [...]
Part IV: Caring activism on a world wide scale
Now I ask myself what does care activism do on a world wide scale? Is care needed for effective activism? I feel that after this semester I am equipped to answer these questions with confidence. In week 10 we really sat down and pondered an overarching topic “World Care.” Week 10 summarized many of the ideas presented this semester and brought them together as a whole concept “who cares”? Through everything I have learned thus far “World Care” was by far my favorite as it highlighted what caring does for this world and showed that even small acts of care and uncare can contribute to what our world is or is not. As it relates to activism these ideas of worldwide care are related heavily. Much of what activism is is caring at a distance. In class we read an article called “Volunteer tourism: What's wrong with it and what can be changed?” Although the uncaring nature of volunteer tourism is not what I wanted to highlight in this particular blog post, the article did make me think about effective forms of global connection and exploring how far we can care. I have first hand experience of what it can mean to care at a distance. My parents are very big advocates for [children's] rights and child care in [the Global South]. They often donate to or visit villages in [different countries in the Global South]. Although this specific article itself is quite negative and is presented as a critique of these forms of activism, I think there are many good ways to go about world wide care and activism. I don't personally believe that caring at a distance or advocating for distance issues is always for a superficial reason and I have seen many great forms of distance activism in my life. We are all human, we should support each other whenever we can in the most authentic way. Building a better world consists of millions of little forms of caring activism.
Building a better world consists of millions of little forms of caring activism.
You don't have to travel near and far to specific countries or issues to provide specific things. There are many acts of activism that improve our world at a small scale that often “butterfly effect” to assist in solving the larger ones. For example small acts of caring activism can be fundraising for local charities, standing up against injustice when you see it, attending protests that fit your beliefs, being willing to hear the opinions of others, truly listening to the struggles of those in your community and actively trying to provide support wherever you can. Activism is not cut and dried, it is so complex especially with all of the confusing, contradicting terms and ideologies that surround it. Activism is often seen as large scale calculated protests and rallies but in reality we are all caring activists in our own ways. Activism is not one thing and to everyone there is a different definition. Caring activism will leave a large imprint on our world when we work together to attack world issues small and large.
References
Anguelovski, I., Connolly, J. J. T., Pearsall, H., Shokry, G.,Checker, M., Maantay, J., Gould, K., Lewis, T., Maroko, A., & Roberts, J. T. (2019). Why green “climate gentrification” threatens poor and vulnerable populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(52), 26139–26143. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1920490117
Chatzidakis, A., Hakim, J., Litter, J., & Rottenberg, C. (2020). Chapter 3: Caring communities. The care manifesto: The politics of interdependence (pp. 45-58).Verso Books. Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership. (2021, June 21).What are Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs)? [Video] Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR1EeEB2t2I
Freidus, A. (2017).Volunteer tourism: what’s wrong with it and how it can be changed.The Conversation.Accessible at: https://theconversation.com/volunteer-tourism-whats-wrong-with-it-and-how-it-can-be-changed- 86701
Hawkins, R. (2018). Breaking Down Barriers of Culture and Geography? Caring-at-a-Distance through Web 2.0.New Political Science, 40(4), 727-743.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2018.1528534
PBS NewsHour. (2023, March 26) How 'green gentrification' is pricing out longtime East Boston residents. [Video]Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In6JMOx47DE.
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