Category: Activism

What is Activism? Activism is to promote and direct in political, environmental and socials in order to make changes in society. Activism can be in so many different forms. Some will protest, making campaigns and some sow their antagonism with silence and strikes. Social responsibility is that you have the duty to benefit society. That means if you work for an organization, you should act to maintain a balance socially, economically and environmentally.

There are plenty of ways to be an activist and communicate with people in order to give them a message. However, for a graphic designer is a great opportunity to spread the message into society visually.

Graphic design is much more than advertisements and branding. There are several graphic design activists that ben arguing their point of view in order to make changes and whether it was effective enough or not, I think their work has spread the concept well enough to the society.

Here are some graphic designers who fought for a better world with their artworks

One of my favorite activists in the design industry is Shepard Fairy who released ‘’ We the people’’ series to protest trump.

The posters designed for protest, feature Native Americans, African Americans, Muslims, and Latinas. (Amah-Rose Abrams, 20 Jan 2017)

Another poster which I think speaks out these days is by Adbusters who created the ‘’Occupy Wall Street’’ poster to protest social and economic inequality.

Another great design activist is Chaz Maviyane. As mentioned in Colorlines ‘’ When controversial Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe announced in May 2000 that elections would be held in June, giving the opposition party little time to launch a campaign, Zimbabwean graphic designer Chaz Maviyane-Davies began a month of “graphic activism.” Each day, he created one or two politically charged posters to counter ensuing voter intimidation by Mugabe’s government.’’ (by Beandrea Davis, from ColorLines , January / February 2008 )

Feminist Activism. As already mentioned, activism has several forms. However, as a young middle eastern woman who grew up in a third world country, been through a lot of inequalities and issues due to my gender, I would like to write about feminism and how graphic design activists showed the society the inequality that still exists even though we are in 21 century with all the improvements.

One of the greatest and the most successful feminist activists in art industry these days is the Guerrilla Girls who have done tones of protests and had so many artworks in galleries and museum and one of their best posters was ‘’Do Women Have to Be Naked To Get Into the Met. Museum?’’. This work, in my opinion, showed a lot of things to the society, especially the fact that women are getting attention only when they are naked.

In one of their interviews when the executive asked them ‘’why choose art as a place for feminism?’’ They answered ‘’every aesthetic decision, has a value behind it and if all the decisions are being made by the same people, then the art will never look like the whole of our culture. And right now, the art world is kind of run by billionaires art collectors who buy art that appeal to their values and we say art should look like the rest of our cultures. Unless all the voices of our culture are in the history of art, it is not really a history of art. it’s a history of power.’’

As a graphic design student, had the opportunities to show my protest in some of my projects which argues the inequality and human rights.

Introduction

The main objective of this essay is to examine the extent to which African Musicians have used their musical prowess as a tool for activism against global justice. This study was conceptualized to study the evolution of activists’ strategies of African Musicians relative to global justice. Furthermore, this study will evaluate the tactics of activism used by the selected African Musicians in tackling global injustice by examining the underpinning themes explored in the various songs of the artists relating to war, corruption, power tussle, bloodshed, peace and deep concern for the citizens.

1.1.1 Global Justice

Although Ukavwe (2014) noted that justice has a complex, indistinct and unidentifiable definition, it is still a major pillar in the human hub for the upholding of social uprightness. Thus, justice can be referred to as a basic requirement of a system of social morality where individuals are allotted their basic rights and entitlements. According to Lauer (2017), global justice, which is a continuous project, is usually an unstable ideal and goal burdened with unequivocal interests. Going further, she disclosed that global injustice involves the total neglect for the life and wellbeing of the populace who have been forbidden and coerced to seek protection from hopeless conflicts. Global injustice thus features resource extraction activities and trans-national corporate authorities who use violent means to affect the properties, survival and means of livelihood of the dwellers of their jurisdiction. In his book, Nagel (2005) explained that global injustice for a long time has been seen as the withstanding of gross discrepancies in the worldwide distribution of basic resources including food, water, sanitary shelter, medical treatment for readily curable diseases, military protection of civilians.

1.1.2 African Music Activism and Global Justice

According to Mohammed-Akinyela (2012), various social movement theorists who have studied the diverse means of mobilizing populations to bring about social and political change have established a link between music activism and global social change. Bergh and Sloboda (2011) also noted that music is a social phenomenon and an ideology mechanism which is often used for stirring up conflicts. This was also corroborated in the revelation by Ekman and Amna (2012) that while the relationship between music and politics has been generally studied across various disciplines, the studies have been used to focus on the diverse ways that the artists have influenced political outcomes. For instance, Weij and Berkers (2019) cited an example of Pussy Riot on YouTube which through the use of obvious and revolutionary lyrics vis-à-vis their music activism subsequently led many people to get involved in the political discussions which their music instigated.

Particularly, Mohammed-Akinyela (2012) highlighted that Africans use music to express their most significant moments in life such that there are various songs for particular occasions such as life, death, marriage, rites of passage ceremonies, and mostly wars or injustice. In the same vein, Adebayo (2017) established that African music describes the true essence of being an African while Onyebadi (2018) rated music as a significant aspect of African society, culture and tradition by adding that music has a way of impacting politics and political activities.

For instance, Zaid (2001) revealed in his works how African artists such as Lucky Dube, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and Alpha Blondy have used their musical prowess to leave critical marks on Africa’s political orbit with the delivery of their songs using scathing commentaries and criticisms, messages against unprogressive and corrupt government leaders and the rampage poverty level in the continent. Although a Jamaican, Bob Marley was also an example of an artist who used music as a tool of societal change vis-a-vis his songs about Rastafarianism while bringing the world’s attention to conditions of the impoverished in his country (Zaid, 2001).

A lot of African artists have used their music as a platform for political messaging using various themes. For instance, Mohamed Wardi, a Sudanese musician used his songs to awaken his fellow countrymen to support democracy and condemning authoritative and despotic leadership in his country (Satti, 2017). The Kenyan freedom fighters also used their Mau Mau songs as a discourse against the level of colonial injustices during Kenya’s independence struggle (Gakahu, 2017).

1.1.3 Case Studies

This study will be examining the music of three African Music icons including Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (Nigeria), Miriam Makeba (South Africa), and Alpha Blondy (Cote d’Ivoire). These African Musicians were selected basically because of the marks they have undoubtedly left in the political circle of Africa and the world through the activism-related lyrics of their songs which mostly includes sarcastic comments, condemnations, and messages opposing the unprogressive governing of their countries’ political rulers coupled with the the filthy and downgraded living standard of huge number of Africans who have been riddled with wars, violence, and other social ills which continuously devastate the continent.

Chapter Two

Case Study 1 – Fela Anikulapo

2.1 Context and Background

Earlier in his career, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti abandoned jazz and classical music for his signature Afrobeat music which he used throughout his professional career days as an activism tool used to fight corruption, injustice of all forms and the dysfunctional government in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. His death in 1997 pushed the New York Times to describe him as a “band leader who artistically used his energetic Afro-beat rhythms and sarcastic pidgin English stanzas to spur Nigerian leaders and condemn their authoritarian administrations (Onyebadi, 2018). Mostly, his songs are always about power abuse and the impoverishment caused to the citizens by the selfless leaders who wickedly amass riches for themselves at the expense of their constituents.

More so, His audacity was checked by the then military-led government of Nigeria which made them to persecute him in 1974 and eventually led to his imprisonment (Botchway 2014). This further made Fela to intensify efforts in using his music as a principal tool for instigating revitalization of visions in the citizens which will in turn help them to continuously make efforts to initiate positive socio-political and cultural changes in their lives to achieve empowerment and self-development (Hawkins, 2011).

2.2 Lyrics

Fela was really disturbed by the dictatorial type of leadership practiced by the government, the political unpredictability, the scandalous contempt for constitution and the incessant deep-rooted partiality practiced by the leaders in Nigeria and Africa as a whole (Olaniyan, 2001). This led to the release of array of his songs which had titles like ‘Colonial Mentality’, ‘Mr Grammarticalogylisationalism’, ‘Vagabonds in Power’, ‘Authority Stealing’, ‘Confusion Break Bones’ among many others. However, for the purpose of this essay, we shall be considering the lyrics of his song titled “Vagabonds in Power” released in 1979. His title was sarcastically coined from the honorific acronym VIP (Very Important Person) used by corrupt African leaders to “Vagabonds in Power.” This was done to reveal how the people with power and authority enrich their pocket with the entitlement of their citizens all in the name of the post they are holding.

The song which was recorded live at the Berlin Jazz festival in autumn 1978 had its lyrics inspired by an encounter between Fela himself and Sam Nujoma, leader of Namibian Liberation Movement, the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) in 1978 (Partisan records, 2019). The song was used by the musical icon to describe the various forms of power in the society ranging from the power a man who developed a make-shift wheel-barrow to help people in carrying their luggage in the market for a fee to that of the country leader who uses his own power to enrich himself and forget the groanings of his people as seen in the transcribed lyrics below:

Him take am He (head of state) uses it (power)

Steal money To steal money

Ha ha, why? Ha ha, why?

I don’t know! I don’t know I don’t know! I don’t know (someone replied)

You don’t know anything at all You don’t know anything at all

You just my brother, ha ha You are just my (ignorant) brother, ha ha

Try this one: Try this one:

Him no know hungry people He doesn’t know hungry people (or, that people are hungry)

Him no know jobless people He doesn’t know that people are jobless

Him no know homeless people He doesn’t know that people are homeless

Him no know suffering people He doesn’t know that people are suffering

Him go dey ride best car He will ride the best car

Him go dey chop best food He will eat the best food

Him go dey live best house He will live in the best house

Him go dey waka for road If he walks along the road

You go dey commot for road You will get off the road for him to pass

for am

Him go dey steal money He will steal (people’s) money

Na “Vagabond in Power”! He is a Vagabond in Power . . .

Having seen the inclination of these set of leaders (Vagabonds in Power) towards the siphoning of public funds with the power they hold, Fela was more enraged by the realization that they carry out this act of condescension with a sense of authority and impunity and go unpunished (except for some unlucky scapegoats in recent politics).

Chapter three

Case Study 2 – Alpha Blondy

3.1 Context and Background

Born as Seydou Kone, the Cote d’Ivoire born reggae superstar is internationally known as Alpha Blondy. His kind of music has over the time put Ivory Coast on the reggae map and has beyond reasonable doubt proven that reggae music is not limited to Jamaica. His music lyrics are always dispensing messages related to peace advocacy and always preaching cessation of wars and conflict. This made him to be nominated as a Peace Ambassador in Ivory Coast by the United Nations (IREIII, 2018). Earlier in his singing days, he revealed that the greatest influences on his choice of career are two great Jamaican reggae musicians (Bob Marley and Burning Spear) and his grandmother. Ever since he attended the reggae musical concert organized by Burning Spear, he has been drawn to a musical style which contains socio-political messaging (Onyebadi, 2018).

Although Alpha Blondy has sang about the overwhelming conditions of the incessant wars in Africa as a whole in the past years, the significance and moral standing of his messages still remain valid and current in recent happenings. This is evident in few wars happening all over the continent including the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, Al Shaba in Somalia and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Mali. Another attestation to the growing wars in Africa is the interminable wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

3.2 Lyrics

Alpha Blondy has a lot of songs he rendered about war, conflicts and peace resolution including ‘Bloodshed in Africa’, ‘Peace in Liberia’, “Take no Prisoner’, ‘Apartheid is Nazism’, and ‘Come Back Jesus’ amongst many others. However, for the purpose of this essay, the lyrics of the song “Bloodshed in Africa” was analyzed.

The song titled “Bloodshed in Africa” which was released in 1986 has Alpha Blondy’s synopsis of the disastrous outcome of wars and conflicts in Africa embedded in it. According to Kroubo (2010), this particular song by Alpha Blondy condemns the gruesome neocolonial policies that were established by Western African countries. In the lyrics, Blondy started the song with a dirge and then to an opposition of the bloodshed associated with Babylon (a symbol of evil and viciousness as already identified by Davidson (2008).

Bloodshed in Africa, bloodshed in Africa

What a shame, what a shame

It’s a bloody shame, oh yeah

It’s a mighty shame, oh Lord

See Babylonians are coming around

And are messing around with my people’s mind

I can’t stand it

No, I won’t bear it

It is noteworthy that reggae musicians (rastafarians) use the word ‘Babylon’ a lot to make their ideas known to the world. Rastafarianism is thus a term used by the reggae musicians synonymous to the struggle for redemption from poverty, disease, destruction, bloodshed, and insecurity. Yet, having noted the ferocity of the African Babylon, Blondy made known his hopefulness of the new era coming at some point after the war in the last part of the song as shown below:

You see, Babylon you bound to fall

You bound to fall, you bound to burn down

Babylon you bound to fall

You bound to fall, you bound to melt to the ground

During the release of the song, the obvious wars going on in Africa include the ones in Angola, Chad, and Ethiopia. Yet, there was no part of the song where Blondy specifically call for a cease-fire for the ongoing wars unlike the case for Liberia where he fervently plead for peace having come to the realization that the end result of wars is not always favorable to both the victors and the vanquished as they will bothsuffer the pains of the wars in terms the damage and the destruction that would have ravaged the two countries.

Chapter four

Case Study 3 – Miriam Makeba

3.1 Context and Background

Popularly called “Mama Africa”, Miriam Makeba was a United Nations goodwill ambassador, and civil rights activist during her lifetime. This is evident in her advocacy against the Apartheid and the white-minority government in South Africa using musical genres like the Afropop, jazz, and country music. More so, Makeba’s active role in the US Civil rights movement as part of black cultural activism has recently been investigated in a research by Feldstein (2013a). While her role in the anti-apartheid political movement in the US aspart of an international network of activists was investigated by Weaver (2013). This led to the production of Anti-apartheid songs and held the performances that mobilized all the suppressed black South Africans to overthrow the internal colonialism that was imposed by the Afrikaner ruling elite (Onyebadi & Memani, 2018).

While visiting Guinea for the first time, she met Stokely Carmichael who would later be her husband. At the time they met, Carmichael was also a radical civil rights activist and a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) who had just arrived in Guinea after a visit to Algeria And Syria (Joseph 2014). In 1968, she married Stokely Carmichael, who at the time was the leader of the Black Panther Party. Based on the kind of music she sings and her marriage, she was persecuted and banned from the United States, which made her to relocate to Guinea (Wikipedia, 2020).

During the apartheid period, the black women in South Africa were very experienced and they shared a disadvantaged, dual heritage and a complete history of marginalization. Their culture and tradition happen to considered them as equal subordinates to men because of the gender the have. An all-white government that practiced apartheid as a philosophy that colonized them and their other male folk, and regarding them as belonging to an inferior race. However, not all the women accepted this cultural overthrow or apartheid-induced marginalization.

Thus, Miriam Makeba used her music to fiercely fight against such apartheid and also towards the liberation of black people. It is just black women in apartheid and pre-independence South Africa that experienced the marginalization described above, it was argued that their fate had not always been unwelcoming. Also, worth noting that in pre-colonial South Africa, black women held positions of power in society alongside men (Onyebadi & Memani, 2018).

3.2 Lyrics

Miriam Makeba’s song ‘Homeland’ which was produced in 2000 was analyzed in this part. The song which was recorded shortly after her return to her home country aftermath of the Apartheid reveals her painful past as an individual and a member of a disenfranchised group. Thus, she sings of how she has been denied of her rights to develop in her home town as shown in the lyrics below.

Memories of days gone by

When I felt so alone

If you ever felt this way

Think about my story, how it came to play

My heart is beating fast

Finally today

Now at last I’m home

Miriam Makeba’s heartfelt story comes as a self-making therapeutic process. It is a therapy in that it is a painful past which Makeba remembers to entail both mental and emotional occurrences of trauma. In a way to show her deep concerns for the pains passed through by her fellow South Africans, she used the song to preach a therapeutic way which can be used to forget past pains having confirmed that healing is obtained through the reflection on and the perfect understanding of the past.

Conclusion

The songs used in this analysis have shown how the three artists (Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Alpha Blondy, and Miriam Makeba) have thematically used their songs to have portray political messages. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti has used his Afrobeat music to present the outrageous misuse of power by the African (most especially Nigerian) leaders, their corrupt practices and the exploitation of their citizens, while Alpha Blondy on the other hand used his reggae to speak against the perpetual wars and struggles ravaging the entire African continent. Using her personal experience as a reference point and her liberal activism background (Feldstein, 2013b), Miriam Makeba sang against the maltreatment meted out on the poor coupled with the uncertain living standards of the relegated citizens whose governments are being led by leaders who are not moved by the tears of their average citizens but continuously glorify themselves in corrupt practices vis-à-vis pilfering of government funds meant for the development of their citizens.

Coupled with the way the three artists were ousted by their countries, it could only mean that their political messages have iota of truth in them and are not exaggerated. As such, their musical activism was evidently directed towards the achievement of global justice in their countries. This is also corroborated by Segun and Ojakorotu (2019) who recently opined that Fela and Makeba used their musical prowess to play serious roles vis-a-vis their ability to preach disapproval of conventional political orders in their respective societies.

Part of Australia’s history is the horrendous treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The arrival of British settlers in 1788 set the stage of struggle with human rights for the Indigenous People, as they faced segregation, assimilation and the systematic attempt to erase their race, through the means of the Stolen Generation. It was only until the UN created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after the disturbing neglect of human rights displayed in Nazi Germany during World War II, that attention would be brought to the racial injustice in Australia. The UDHR started a wave of Civil Rights movements across the world, especially in the United States, influencing change in Australia too. The US Civil Rights movement inspired activism in 1960s Australia for equality, achieving change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, however, inequality still exists which people are often ignorant to and further efforts must be made to achieve true reconciliation and equality.

The US Civil Rights movement was a huge turning point in the history of human rights. For centuries African Americans suffered, and during the 1960s many activists fought for change and equality. Protests such as the freedom rides, and Rosa Parks bus boycott confronted the racial segregation in America. In 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led 250 000 people on a civil rights march in Washington, with his inspirational speech; “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character”. President Johnson responded to the protest, and on July 2nd, 1964, the US Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act, outlawing discrimination based on race or gender. The legacy of King’s dream and the non-violent protests to engage in racial equality also inspired many Australians to fight for change. The US Civil Right movement and Dr. Luther King Jr. had an influence on a worldwide level, inspiring Australian activists such as Charles Perkins.

Following America, Australia began its own Civil Rights movement, advocating for the rights of Indigenous Australians. A series of protests occurred in Australia, where leaders pursued change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, changing Australians’ perspectives on activism. In 1965 SAFA, led by Charles Perkin, organised the Freedom Ride: a bus tour through New South Wales towns. Their goal was to draw attention to the poor living conditions of the Aboriginal communities by broadcasting their demonstrations on the news and radio, exposing the racism in the towns. The freedom rides had huge effects as it was a wakeup call for ignorant Australians who foolishly believed in the self-proclaimed multiculturalism of Australia. Another major protest was the Wave Hill Station walk-off on August 23,1966, led by Vincent Lingiari. Although the walk-off was in response to unfair wages, the purpose would be the start of a long battle for land rights, leading to Eddie Mabo’s victory in 1992. In 1975, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam handed over 3300 square kilometers of land to the Gurindji people by significantly pouring dirt into Lingiari’s hand, in response to the demonstration. Therefore, activism during the 60s-70s successfully changed the perspective of many Australians, leading to government intervention and eventually legal alterations.

The Australian Civil Rights movement bore the way for the Reconciliation movement as the government began to acknowledge the inequalities that existed and moved towards ending them. This activism had huge benefits and many of the protests were successful. For example, the Mabo decision led to the Native Title Act 1993 which gave back ‘crown land’ to the Indigenous people and the activism led to the 1967 Referendum which allowed Federal government to make laws regarding Indigenous peoples, as well as their inclusion in a census. A massive milestone in the recognition of the wrongdoings towards Indigenous Australians by the government was the Redfern Park Speech. In 1993, Prime Minister Paul Keating addressed an audience in Redfern, being the first Prime Minister to acknowledge and take responsibility for past mistakes. He said, “It was we who did the dispossessing. We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life. We brought the diseases. The alcohol. We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practised discrimination and exclusion”. However, it wasn’t until 2008 when a formal apology was made by PM Kevin Rudd to the Stolen Generation for the unjust treatment they had faced. Thus, Civil Rights Activism In Australia has led to massive change for Indigenous Australians; positive progress has been made.

The efforts made to pursue civil rights made some progress, however, there are many negative effects due to activism. The government apology and legal alterations have been followed by results that show there has been a worsening in Aboriginal lifestyle, which wasn’t expected by the activists who fought for improvement. In 2007 PM John Howard staged ‘The Intervention’ with hope of improving the lifestyle of Aboriginal people. The policy included welfare payment restrictions, ban on alcohol and pornography and increased police and medical aid in child sex abuse cases. However, the 2010 Closing the Gap report showed that reports of child sex abuse and alcohol-related violence had increased, proving that recent efforts have been unsuccessful. Perhaps the continued inequalities displayed shows how reconciliation is only the beginning of equality? The Politics of Suffering, by Peter Sutton, chronicles how well-meant Aboriginal Affairs policies in the 70s did improve welfare and service, but inadvertently increased child abuse, domestic violence and drug and alcohol use. Overall, there were short-term benefits of the activism in Australia such as reconciliation, however it’s followed by devastating repercussions that must be addressed.

The US Civil Rights movement has influenced change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders by encouraging activism, however inequalities still exist today and must be acted upon, to fully ensure equality in Australia. The efforts of significant individuals and groups of people have influenced many to pursue equality. But it wasn’t all good, as it has been found that many problems have increased rather than ended, despite the efforts made by activists. Perhaps, these issues are still at large today as there is still a lack of respect towards the culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. To move towards self-determination there must also be efforts made towards self-identity, as there is a generation of people who are culturally lost after being forced to assimilate into British colonial society. There must be ongoing practical efforts on everyone’s part, not just acknowledgement and apologies, otherwise racial equality is just another political stunt.

Introduction

The creative power of art has been used to evoke emotion in people in order to bring up a social change as artistic activism. Activism challenges accustomed beliefs and power association. Whereas in Art, there is an ambiguity in the intention of the artist who makes the work. It is often to create a new perspective and a clearer vision to view the aspects of the world, which can be considered as another way of rephrasing the imposition of freedom into people’s minds. Freedom and creativity is the way to conceive opportunities, which is why, artistic activism has aroused as a concept due to the intersection of these two complementary notions. Providing a broader perspective allows one to think outside their existing limits, a freedom of thoughts. Activism makes a change in the materialistic world, therefore it is complemented with art through its ability to stimulate emotions and feelings, evoking people spiritually. The involvement of art in political and social situations has been an issue for those who are being criticized, but the question here is, where does this intention coming from? Cultural background. An artist’s memory, experiences, loss, pain, hopes, devastations… One’s roots and growing environment shape its personality. Therefore, growing up in a country and a culture segregating genders or ruling the nation with extreme dictatorship, the prospect person eventually might turn against that idea. Artists who also consider themselves as activists such as Shirin Neshat and Ai Weiwei, are two cross cultural artists who have left their home country and moved to U.S for education in their early years. My interest in these artists is the way they construct the artwork, either with the visual elements in their digital art or the usage of material with the intention of propagating social, political and economic concerns within their own country. As a result, investigated the reflections of their culture on their works to have a deeper understanding of its effect on their construction process of them.

An Introduction to Shirin Neshat[image: Picture 1]

Born in Qazvin, Iran in 1957, Shirin Neshat was the youngest child of a wealthy family with four children. She was sent to U.S by her father to complete her education. Nonetheless, near the end of 1900’s, specifically in 1978, the Islamic Revolution has struck Iran. This revolution occurred when she was abroad, and prevented her from returning back to her country of origin. However, while she was away, Iran was being enforced to a state of mind where women were restricted to a much higher degree than men. She was able to return to Iran after 20 years, which she ended up being disappointed more than ever. She countered with repression towards this ideology due to her observations on the diminishing self esteem of women. The major depiction of the nobility of women who suffers from religious fundamentalism in her art. Through her arrival back Iran, Neshat’s experience of the sharp alterations in the laws which were domineering women was the peak in terms of choosing her path in art. Since she has been living in U.S for a long time, Neshat has adapted the Western culture while criticizing the complexity of gender roles created by the traditional Muslim society. She conveyed Muslim women from the perspective of the Western’s, which resulted in using contrasts as a main visual element emphasizing the difference between two cultures. She conveyed this idea first in “Women of Allah”. She examined the complexity of gender roles, and used the representation of stereotypical Muslim women from the eyes of Western culture, by also using personal insights. As she said; “Every image, every woman’s submissive gaze, suggests a far more complex and paradoxical reality behind the surface.” She mostly uses photography and video-based installations, as she once said in an interview, Neshat thinks that through these techniques she achieves the aim of conveying the reality, intimacy, immediacy and the sense of drama. Her work also delivers her complexity message through a way which is simple and clear. In addition, the juxtaposition of the use of black and white in both her video installations and photography’s convey the bisection of gender, moreover highlighting her message once again using this visual technique. Through her artistic activism, she forces the audience to reconsider their beliefs and ideologies.(https://thegentlewoman.co.uk/library/shirin-neshat)

Effects Of Iranian Culture On Shirin Neshat’s Work

There is a stereotypical conservative view of Iranian women especially in the Western media. Since western media is more dominant and appeals to a wider audience, the perspective it imposes is more prevalent. Media depicts Iranian women as voiceless, inferior, powerless and almost invisible. This view appears to be a “public appearance” of Iranian women. Whereas the real issue here, is the difference between their “private lives” and “public lives”. This rises a question in minds, it is known that Iranian women are portrayed as powerless and silent, but how do they see themselves? This question is actually answered within the art of Iranian artists. The digital platform to represent themselves, therefore more effective in this case since the artist aims to make its audience feel what they are going through. Therefore, it is more effective to use a medium that would appeal to one’s senses, more than just sight, but also auditory. These effective is used by Iranian artists to convey their political and social messages, which influences social movements in society overall. In this case Iranian artist Shirin Neshat is a suitable artist to investigate since she lives out of Iran. This gives her more freedom while making her art and allows her to use her own experiences as well as investigate from outside or by comparing two cultures. Furthermore, this cross-cultural life gives her the free space to tell her and others stories in symbolic, simple and more clear ways. The explicit expression of political, social and environmental issues about the life of Iranian women directly serves as an act of activism. As Shirin Neshat said in her interview with Art Radar, “I think, to be very honest, in all of my work, there is that intention of making work that while it could have so many dimensions, political, moral, existential dimensions, it has to have an emotional dimension.”[footnoteRef:1]. Neshat captures her models pain, sufferings, struggles, meaning the emotional states that is a pure reflection of how they are treated in where they live. This direct portrayal of emotion has a shocking and touching effect on her audience and society overall. Therefore, she straightforwardly reveals the truths that are trying to be hidden by the media, which contributes to her influence on the social and political movements. [1: Lee,2014]

Cultural Impacts On The Works- Turbulent And Rapture

• [image: Female-singers-Still-from-Turbulent-1998-Copyright-Shirin-Neshat-Courtesy-Gladstone.png]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P43XqnMe-Mg
• Artist: Shirin Neshat
• Title: Turbulent
• Date: 1998
• Medium: Digital (Video installation)

Since “Turbulent” is a film, a digital form of art, it has a narrative and a cinematic perspective. Shirin Neshat tells the stories of Iranian women, the stories that are usually covered up by the society, or just ignored since it seems like an ordinary event that is embedded into contemporary Iranian society. Turbulent, made in 1998 is the first video installation that Shirin Neshat made which consists of two videos in a black room, facing each other on the opposite sides. Throughout the video, a male and a female protagonist sings a song from Rumi’s poem with successive orders. The effects of her cultural background is so vivid in the video through the differences in the depiction of the performings of the man and the woman.

Contrasts

The criticism of gender inequalities is mostly reflected by the visual element of contrasts. The visual features, the contrasts of black and white is interlinked with the thematic contrasts which is the opposite life conditions of men and women in the Iranian society, which is embedded in the nature of the Iranian community. The neglected social rights of women, regarding the legal framework of Iran is also demonstrated through the differences between the split display of the videos. Right from the start, since the two videos are placed facing each other in the actual exhibition, the audience is given a choice to focus on one of them more carefully. This alludes to the domination of one gender to another, in such a patriarchal system, it is usually the male. So “Turbulent” criticizes the actual meaning of social status in a society determined by one’s visual appearance. Other than addressing only life of men and women in Iran by contrast, the work also alludes to contrasts such as; individuality/communal, traditional/non-traditional and rational/irrational. All the artistic elements conveyed in both screens depict contrasts between them, emphasizing all the differences and oppositions of the life of Iranian women compared to men. By portraying such striking contrasts, Shirin Neshat aims to create an emotional shock towards what has become ordinary in her culture.

Clothes

The contrast of black and white is depicted by the use of clothes in the video so a deeper understanding is significant in terms of analyzing the reason for such portrayal. The man wears a modern white shirt whereas the woman is covered with a hijab, as well as wearing long black clothing which reveals no skin at all. In Iranian culture, the depicted clothing is called “the chador”. It is the strictest clothing in Iranian culture which only reveals a woman’s face or often only eyes. The black chador is complementary with the black background of the stage which allows the audience to only focus on the female protagonist’s face at some shots. Not only this technique loads in more emotion since the audience is focused on the facial expressions of the singer rather than any audience behind (which is the case in the man’s side), but also conveys the black and white contrast driven between both screens. The usage of clothing as a visual element on the figures is significant in terms of Neshat’s culture since the dress code for women were, and still are stricter. Even from the physical appearances of the figures on the screen, there is a palpable cultural and religious restriction on the woman, almost seen by the merged clothing and the black background draws a verge to the sides of her face.

Composition

The man has an all- male audience, whereas women is positioned in an “empty echoing hall”. Reflected by him being faced away from the audience, he is secured that he will be appreciated and accepted by his viewer, regardless of the condition he will be in which conveys his cultural privilege. Her voice ricochets while singing which symbolizes the unheard, overlooked voice of women in Iranian Society, as well as the Western media. “The empty hall” is a symbol of the position women is forced to take since she cannot speak freely, in this case to sing in a public area. The ideal stereotypical men in the society is known by its dominance, power and incentive to be the authority, rather than women. The adaption of this idea in the installation is demonstrated by depicting the man facing away from his audience. Giving the message that he is secured that he will be appreciated and accepted by his viewer, regardless of the condition he will be in, which is incarnational of his cultural privilege in the work. The contrast between the steady camera shooting the man, and the moving camera in front of the woman likewise differ in terms of composition and cinematic elements. Men’s position in the Iranian society is stabile, it has been put in order years ago which they have seen the effects of it with their dominance in social, political and economic situations. Therefore, the shooting angle of the singing male figure is steady and only focuses on one angle. In contrast, the 360 moving camera gives a clear demonstration of all the dimensions of the repression, aggression and the suppressed power of Iranian women. The fluctuation of the camera, is representative of the social status of Iranian women which is influenced by the restrictive requests of the Islamic heritage on them.

Auditory Elements

The song they both sing is taken from Rumi’s poem, which is a love song sung to one to another. The translation of the song is below;

Man: “How long can I lament with this depressed heart and soul? How long can I remain a sad autumn ever since my grief has shed my leaves? My entire heart and soul is burning in agony. How long can I hide the flames wanting to rise out of this fire? How long can one suffer the pain of hatred of another human? A friend behaving like an enemy with a broken heart. How much more can I take the message from body to soul? I believe in love. I swear by love. Believe me my love.”

Woman: “How long like a prisoner of grief can I beg for mercy? You know I’m not a piece of rock or steel, but hearing my story even water will become as tense as a stone. If I can only recount the story of my life, Right out of my body flames will grow.”

Male protagonist’s performance is more realistic and socially approvable whereas female performance is rejected and outlawed. That is why the woman’s performance appears in the video as if it is a “fantasy” with her unordinary vocals and the deviations in her tone. The complexity of the vocal piece the woman sings is contradictory with the vocal performance of men. The pain in her voice, the ability to reflect the song with such emotion, aggression is the product of the repressed power within women in Iran. Her tone is significant in terms of Neshat delivering her activist actions to the audience, where she intends to make the audience fascinated by this suppressed power and emotion.

• [image: Picture 1]Rapture, 1999
• Artist: Shirin Neshat
• Title: Rapture
• Date: 1999
• Medium: Digital (Video installation)
• Source: http://www.bohen.org/project/shirin-neshat

Both “Turbulent” and “Rapture” made by Shirin Neshat in succesive years of 1998 and 1999, convey the same idea with similar visual elements. The works demonstrate the element of gender within the Islamic culture in addition with the “Rapture”s depiction of the internalisation of accustomed gender roles within the society. The construction of both works reflect not only physical, but also social and psychological confinement in Islamic societies. Even though Neshat usually tries to avoid and demolish the stereotypical appearance of Iranian women. The split screens in both digital works leaves the audience with confusion in the middle of the installation with two different videos. This technique of duality not only reflects the difference between men and women, but also Iranian and Western society.

The construction of both works revolve around the main three themes of loss, meaning and memory. Neshat constructs her films accordingly to her experiences and recent visits to her home country Iran. She states one of her reasons for her interest in digital art is that “Photography becomes an object after a while” but “Film, must be experienced”[footnoteRef:2]. This digital form of art which she calls “moving photographs” gives much more opportunities to reach out to wider communities from all around the world. The developed technology which brings a wider range of digital platforms for artists removes the obstacles in the way of disclosing the gap between the private and public life of Iranian women. The term referred as “public life” is the stereotypical appearance of Iranian women in Western media. The aim is to propagate the portrayal as well as to draw attention to the main sources of this inequality between men and women, other than its connection with Islamic beliefs. She calls attention to governmental policies, the legal framework of the country, leading the country to a patriarchal system. Although she depicts Muslim women with veils, which is the stereotypical approach to Iranian women in the Western media, her such portrayals are the memories of her home country. [2: Shapiro, 2002]

The Political Activist Ai Weiwei – A Different Approach

Since the main goal of the research project is to investigate the effects of cultural background in the construction of artworks, it is significant to broaden the perspective with another artist from another culture. By selecting a male artist, the differences and the similarities between the constructions of artworks of both artists will be interpreted.

“Literature is a place where we can construct new realities together, but unless the literature available to us is representative, those new realities threaten to reconstruct the prejudice and discrimination of the world we live in,”[footnoteRef:3] –Ai Weiwei [3: Danuta,2017]

Ai Weiwei, a Chinese contemporary artist was born in 1957, Beijing, and currently residing and working in Berlin. His activist art initially began with his never-ending battle with the Chinese Government. However now Ai Weiwei calls out to problems from the violation of human rights to the refugee crisis in Europe. In a country where free speech is banned and counted as an act of propaganda, he was beaten up, got a house arrest as well as getting his house bulldozed all by the police. Ai Weiwei’s political and social opinions and the way he expressed them marginalized him from any side of political views (both left and right). Ai especially refused to surround to China’s oppressive rules after returning from U.S, where he described to The Economist as “completely two different societies with very different attitudes towards opinion and criticism”[footnoteRef:4]. Therefore, his aim is to portray the opposition and gap between the appearance of the Chinese Society which is the ideal one and the reality with all its cruelty. One of the members of the Chinese Communist Party(CCP) and the “former dictator” Mao Zedong, [4: Fischer,2010]

The use of materials within the construction of his installations or sculptures all allude to his opposition with the Chinese Government, especially in “On Porcelain”. The used material is fragile, yet weighs tons when all collaborated together, signifying the Chinese people in Ai’s memory.

• [image: ]Artist: Ai Weiwei
• Name of the work: “Sunflower Seeds”
• Date: 2010
• Medium: Porcelain
• Place: Tate Modern

“Sunflower Seeds”, made in 2010 is the largest contemporary work of Ai has made using porcelain as the medium. The initial place of the work was in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. 100.000.000 sunflower seeds made of porcelain weighed a total of 150 tons.

Sunflower seed is a prevalent snack in Chinese culture. Ai took an everyday object from his childhood which now comprises several meanings within. Experiencing the Cultural Revolution in China, Ai’s memory of the sunflowers from his childhood change into joy, happiness to torture, hard labour, struggle and hunger. As well as the time period of socialists planning the economy with the collaborative worship towards Mao Zedong who was referred as the “sun”. Therefore, the seeds in Ai’s work are all the people being ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, the “sunflowers”.

Although the Sunflower seeds’ deeper meaning is open to interpretation, the creation of the work relies in Weiwei’s reproach to the Chinese Government. The aim of the construction of his work depend on his initial motive for being an artist, which is to be an activist. Furthermore, to make people see, all the small details that they have ignored due to being blinded by their authorities or could not get their voice heard at the time. Mao Zedong, exiled Ai Weiwei’s family to a labor camp in Shihnezi, Xinjiang in 1961 for sixteen years. His effort to reveal Chinese government’s inadequacies, including the Sichuan Earthquake which caused myriad casualties that could have been prevented. As he started his researches about the topic, the police bet him up, which he suffered from internal bleedings. After being a subject for the documentary “Never Sorry”, emphasizing the Chinese Government’s oppressive legal framework and governing system, he was again, beaten up by the police, arrested for 81 days, as well as having his studio bulldozed and confiscated his passport. As an aftermath of his experience, as well as his family’s in his own country Weiwei merges the two concept and makes art a tool to create a political change. He states this idea as everything is art and everything is politics[footnoteRef:5] in “Weiwei-isms”. The injustice system of Chinese government had led him to be an activist, so as DW states in his article, Weiwei continued to tackle on current political issues regarding China in his reside in Berlin (Braun,2018) which is how he became “the most dangerous person in China” [5: Weiwei,2013]

Comparison Of The Construction Of Both Artists Works And Conclusion

Both Shirin Neshat and Ai Weiwei are cross-cultural artists who went abroad from their country to move to U.S, where they saw the opposition between the legal framework constructing the human rights within their countries and the U.S. While Neshat reflects the suffering from the restrictions of the social conservatism on women as well as the other factors mentioned, Weiwei directly alludes to higher authorities’ decisions towards hindering human rights and the freedom of speech. The main themes in Shirin Neshat’s and Ai Weiwei’s works are “loss, meaning and memory” which serves for a common purpose in most of their works; to evoke its audience to revolt, or to stimulate the idea of freedom. The two cross-cultural artist’s detachment from their own country results in especially the theme of “memory”, since they reflect their culture and country as they remember from childhood, or from their most recent visits. Likewise to Shirin Neshat, Ai Weiwei’s motive for being an activist is the aftermath of his cultural background. However, despite the similarities, the mediums used in both artists works differ in terms of the purpose of using it. In Ai Weiwei’s work, medium becomes one of the elements for artistic activism, whereas Shirin Neshat uses medium as a tool to deliver her criticisms and ideas. I believe this difference relies in the aspect of their culture or country that they are criticizing about. Neshat’s work is more about feeling and experiencing the pain of her subjects. So using mediums such as photography or a video is more effective. In Weiwei’s work, the medium and the material is a part of the process of creating artistic activism.

All in all, one’s cultural background shapes the construction of thoughts and how to perceive its environment.

Bibliography

1. https://www.filmmakermagazine.com/archives/issues/fall2001/reports/turbulent.php
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCAssCuOGls
3. https://detschlich.wordpress.com/photography-self-and-landscape/secondary-research/shirin-neshat/
4. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-feminism-of-resilience-shirin-neshat-at-the-hirshhorn/#!
5. http://teachartwiki.wikispaces.com/Shirin+Neshat%2C+Women+of+Allah+Series
6. https://www.widewalls.ch/artist/shirin-neshat/
7. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jun/13/shirin-neshat-women-without-men
8. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/shirin-neshat-5638.php
9. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/166422148705256888/
10. http://artradarjournal.com/2014/03/01/iranian-artist-shirin-neshat-on-art-can-change-the-world-interview/
11. http://www.aiweiweiseeds.com/about-ai-weiweis-sunflower-seeds
12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hagl4ibp86Q
13. https://theculturetrip.com/middle-east/iran/articles/iranian-artist-shirin-neshat-a-life-in-self-imposed-exile/
14. http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/72/SunflowerSeedsAiWeiwei
15. https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/unilever-series/unilever-series-ai-weiwei-sunflower-seeds/unilever
16. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ai-weiwei-how-chinese-artist-became-an-enemy-of-the-state/
17. http://www.casterlinegoodman.com/attachment/en/542c0c8707a72c9a1a2b4801/TextTwoColumnsWithFile/549debafa1c1388d3f067c3e
18. https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/79816-rumi-fountain-of-fire
19. https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/qbeypp/can-art-be-a-form-of-political-activism
20. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1280&context=stu_hon_theses
21. Lee, Christine. “Iranian Artist Shirin Neshat on Art, Politics and Changing the World.” Art Radar, 1 Mar. 2014, artradarjournal.com/2014/03/01/iranian-artist-shirin-neshat-on-art-can-change-the-world-interview/.
22. Ai, Weiwei, and Larry Warsh. Weiwei-Isms. Princeton University Press, 2013.
23. Shapiro, David. “SHIRIN NESHAT Interview.” GLENN LIGON – MUSEO, 2002, www.museomagazine.com/SHIRIN-NESHAT.
24. Braun, Stuart. “Artist Ai Weiwei Says Goodbye to Berlin after Three Years in Exile | DW | 03.05.2018.” DW.COM, 2018, www.dw.com/en/artist-ai-weiwei-says-goodbye-to-berlin-after-three-years-in-exile/a-43641755.
25. Weiwei, Ai. “Ai Weiwei: The Artwork That Made Me the Most Dangerous Person in China.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 15 Feb. 2018, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/feb/15/ai-weiwei-remembering-sichuan-earthquake.
26. Fischer, Jeremy Wong. “Ai Weiwei on China’s Regime.” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 22 Oct. 2010, www.economist.com/node/21012193/comments.

Introduction

This essay concerns what degree of power judges should possess to change law. Essentially where on the spectrum between pure Declaratory Theory and condoned aggressive judicial activism lies the best balance between stability and modernisation. I argue judges should possess the power to alter precedent and form new statute interpretations but restricted to incremental steps only, halting the modern trend toward the excesses of judicial activism .

In effect I argue for the contemporary jurisprudential state. Section II details the importance for legal evolution, and incremental change is enough to keep up with said societal changes. Sections III-IV elaborate on the dangers of excess judicial activism, and hence why limiting change to only increments is essential.

Societal evolution

Societies are never stagnant; laws must evolve in reaction. Legislation will always lag due to this reactionary nature. Judges must be empowered to change precedent and reinterpret statute to develop often archaic law to fit modern societal contexts. [expand] A clear example of this is found in NZRFU case , in the courts decision to adapt their test of standing to include public law aspects reflective of the unprecedented press-fuelled public interest in the private law case.

Such modern-day considerations were unbeknownst while common laws for standing were created, hence judges must be empowered to evolve law to ensure the fairest outcome.

Judges as fair representatives of society

The need to evolve law must not be taken too far [expand], as judges cannot claim to fully comprehend let alone totally represent “contemporary community values” to justify dramatic judicial activism. They are unelected nor strongly compelled to act according to the community, the Judicial Conduct Board being only the nuclear option .

Every ruling inescapably is tinged with personal bias; certain cultural viewpoints and political positions will always be disproportionately considered over others, despite any opposite intentions. And they can never be held to account for biased decisions4 Since individual judges are unqualified to gauge the societal position nor direction, it is irresponsible to permit one to forge ahead with unilateral dramatic changes to the law, down a possibly different path than society.

Prendergast CJ chose such a path in his Wi Parata v. Bishop of Wellington judgement, cementing in New Zealand common law the principle that the Treaty of Waitangi was a simple nullity, which was contrary to the direction of societal attitudes towards the treaty. This hence undermined the courts ability to act in accordance to the shifting societal attitudes until the Privy Council affirmed it as a legitimate legal document. Any changes they make must be restrained and incremental, ensuring judicial rulings stay on the same course as society, and do not outstrip societal progress nor lag. Because to “function effectively courts cannot afford to be too far ahead [or] behind in their thinking.”3

Importance of certainty

Even ridiculously assuming each judge had the perfect gauge “contemporary community values”, their position and direction, it would still be unacceptable for judges to make sweeping unilateral changes to the law. Because “contemporary community values” are an unknowable measure for people to be held up against.

So, judges should never deviate too far from existing precedent, only incrementally considering they are applying new developments, in the law retroactively. By acting incrementally citizens can maintain a degree of certainty on how a court would rule, which is imperative for three reasons.

“Law should be accessible to all and should be capable of being easily understood” , to disadvantage citizens on account of law unbeknownst to them or not existing at the time of the offence is unethical. Fear of retroactive judges’ decisions would undermine the citizens confidence to act freely, stare decisis allows people to “plan their affairs with some assurance that they are not running into legal snares” . Such fear confines citizens to narrower more paternalistic code of code of conduct in which Hart argues “the only liberty that could co-exist… is the liberty to do those things to which no one seriously objects. Such liberty is clearly nugatory.” .

Clearly demarcated laws are necessary to strongly deter citizen wrongdoing by sure threat that courts would rule against them otherwise. [expand] Uncertainty raises ethical questions and undermines the judiciary’s power to deter wrongdoing and inspire prosperity via confidence through certainty, hence all necessary judicial legal developments must be made incrementally

The article by Laurie Honda on the “It gets better” project which focuses on the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community is a good example of the cultural hegemony theory which advocates equal rights and social status.

The project, which started in September 2010 in the USA and spread over five continents. President Barack Obama lent his voice supporting the movement against bullying and in March 2011 First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a conference on anti-bullying. Its aim is to prevent suicides among LGBTQ teens, but the message echoes far beyond that. The campaign has collected and posed on its website more than 50,000 entries from people from all possible identities, i.e. sexual orientation, geography, race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age and so on.

Owing to the wide variation of communities, the campaign was tailored carefully to ensure the inclusion of all pertaining public, and counter criticism received by media and general biases against the LGBTQ community. What resulted was the almost unstoppable power of the “It gets better” project, which was particularly drawn from its unique all-inclusive and participatory approach.

IGB has been hailed as one of the most powerfully influential grassroots social justice campaign in the gay rights movement (Grzanka & Mann, 2014).

The “Robi Damelin Forgiveness” Project

The first thing that Robi Damelin said when she heard about the son’s David’s death was, “do not take revenge in the name of my son” (https://www.theforgivenessproject.com/robi-damelin). She advocated peace and forgiveness. She is an Israeli PR professional and a peace activist; her son was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper while serving in the Israeli army. Robi attributed her reaction to her individual perspective on ethics and strong commitment to peace.

The “Robi Damelin Forgiveness Project” talks about “reconciling the potentially conflicting roles of the professional advocate and the social conscience” (Fitzpatrick and Gauthier 2001). She used dialogue as an ethical tool to thwart the attempt of the more powerful to impose themselves on the less powerful (Kent 2013).

The exemplary behaviour of the bereaved mother who engaged with her son’s killer to promote non-violence and peace promoted an invaluable motivation for building a relationship of trust peace. It is in a way a model of persuasion, which would be described as asymmetrical but since it involves communication that facilitates sharing and rapport building, it becomes the opposite, i.e. symmetrical (Pieczka 2016).

This example will highlight the tension existing today between intersts of the society and personal interest as factors of motivation of PR in activism. It is often that a dialogue starts as asymmetrical, but once ethical direction is engaged becomes symmetrical.

This brings us to the face of activism today. It is no longer the face of the hostile confrontationist; it has moved to seek participation and conversation towards building a middle path that acknowledges and respect the power and rights of both (or all) parties.

Is PR another Name of Activism Today?

Activism today still has hostilities, sit-downs, strikes, and non-compliance or non-obedience methods. However, the face of activism is changing. By the mere presence and power of activism as a process, there is a better balance of power today in the society. If you look at the history, all major positive changes are directly owned to activism, i.e. environmentalism, women’s right, LGBT rights, anti-Vietnam War, etc. Activists can safely be named as the greatest agent for societal change (Holtzhausen, 2012).

Without activists and the pressure for righting the wrong the world would be clearly exposed and overcome by stagnation, repression and to a great extent inertia (Demetrious 2013). In many ways, activism has become the process that nourishes and upholds democracy.

Of course, there is always the danger of glorifying activism at the expense of PR, one being for the good of the society while the other serving its own self-interests by definition, but it is not that simple. As seen from the above example – the “Robi Damelin Forgiveness” Project – sometimes activism can start as persuasion PR (asymmetrical), ends up as dialogue and participative PR (symmetrical) merging one aspect into the other quite seamlessly.

Conclusion

Activism as we see it today is indeed inclusive of PR. Like in the past, activists still seek to be heard and to bring about changes in the society for the larger good (Zoller 2009) but, today it is often based on a wider range of public communication, which include more often than not a good number of the “opposite party members” if not all and it aims at dialogue and participatory approach more rather than head-on collision. The activism today are co-creators of relationships between public and the larger powers and cover larger perspective, historical contextualisation, and understanding.

There is a stronger effort boosted by the social media and today’s communication technologies to link public relations to social change, social theories, social movement theories, digital media theories and ideologies where communication becomes a peaceful weapon for effectual equity and equality in global context.

Not all agree that activism has become today a legitimate PR practice, which is vital and necessary for a healthy functioning society. While some researchers see activism and PR as inclusive aspects in socially responsible corporates and list them as equal and complementary players (Holtzhausen 2007), some are not so much convinced stating that activism is too dynamic to completely understand its connect to PR in particular and society at large.

To sum it up, today PR has been subsumed by activism, which become interdisciplinary and a cross-fertilization force for upholding democracy on a global scale.

The unbelievable advancement in technology has made an impact on each and every sector of society. This advent in technology removed the geographical boundation due to which the communication with the people has become more diverse. Breaking the time barrier has transformed activism in numerous manner from the last few decades. The way people are now connected is broader in range.

In the context of social media presence, platforms create a civic culture as it opens the path to the diverse environment of spreading & raising once voice. this digital culture empowers the individual & offers more spaces and new ways for the public to share their opinion. It is through these media that the population, regardless of where they are, can actively participate in civic culture. The influence of online presence has created a wide range of benefits like it helps people to have more information about actions and to have a voice in public and political speeches. Social media is an essential mobilization tool, as it allows for the organization of targeted groups’ political activities but does not require a massive financial investment (Youmans & York, 2012). However, social media can be used to exchange emotional or motivational content and can enhance shared identities within political networks (Jost at el;2018, Mc Garty et al., 2014).

The fastest-growing connection in a rapidly changing environment which helps in maintaining the transparency of society and its change which made these platforms more enhanced for raising the voice of everyday people by participating in activism, allowing them to know their rights & responsibilities. The availability of resources due to which modern activism made information to be delivered or accessed with the new rapid pathways as it Influences people, their Immediate response to occurrence whether political, economical or any other issues as it directly the matter of the community which makes it more detailed.

In addition, the new media tools have created a wide range of network for the engagement of people, social media has enabled the ease of activism. for example, the case in India where a girl got raped very badly due to which people came on-road and raised their voices against the government to hang them till death because of the online presence and the rapid access to the news people raised their voices through different social media channels which create a very huge impact on national and worldwide.

Online communication has its positive and negative side. it’s a very powerful tool through which we can create a change in society as it allows activists to organize events with high levels of engagement, focus, and network strength which make it a more effective way to engage a large number of people to a cause. it makes people more developed about the different aspects of the different sections of society.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2019.00055/full
2. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2056305118763350

This week’s discussion takes a look into LGBTQ+ and disabled feminism and activism. In the articles written by Abelson and the speech given in the Incite page, we take a look at LGBTQ+ feminism along with black feminism. In the article written by Abelson, we begin by discussing both the inclusion and exclusion of transgender feminists, which begins in the 1970’s and continues into the early-mid 2000’s. During this time, lesbian feminists began to “turn from a patriarchal and male-centered existence to new lives centered on other women” (p. 46). The inclusion of lesbian feminists in the movement was incredible at this time as it showed the movement was progressive and inclusive. However, there were feminists who opposed the inclusion of trans women into the feminist movement. TERFs, or trans exclusionary radical feminists, began to gain popularity in the 1970’s. This group is thought to be more conservative; they believe themselves to be “gender critical”. This group did not approve of pro-transgender legislation and these feminists believe that transgender women do not belong in the feminst movement as they are biologically male and they do not have to suffer the oppression of being female. In the 1990’s; however, transfeminism took off, which allowed trans women to be included and accepted in the feminist movement. This facet of feminism acknowledges the fact that a person’s sense of their gender can be individualized and and it does not necessarily portray a person’s political views (p. 55). The Incite article showed an archive from the early 2000’s which called for transgender non conforming (TGNC) and people of color (POC) communities to march in solidarity in New York in 2005. They were marching to protest the social injustices these groups faced. The speaker points out the injustices that these minority groups faced, such as: police brutality and harassment, racist and xenophobic immigration policies, minimal living wage employment opportunities, affordable housing, quality education, and health care reform. These groups joined forces and marched in solidarity to demand change and social justice. These two articles highlight the injustices that LGBTQ+ women faced, and continue to face in today’s society. Even though their groups were very different, they still craved the sense of equality that the rest of America had attained upon birth.

The articles written by Hershey, Ali, and Watkins discuss disabled women and the discrimination they face on daily basis. Hershey makes the bold claim that disabled boys are more acceptable than disabled girls, and as a result, disabled femals face double the amount of discrimination opposed to males (p. 261). Hershey also touches on different countries like South Korea and China and how many disabled women are in poverty and they can be seen on street corners begging for money and food, where men are not seen as often as women on the streets. She urges women, wherever they may live, to use their voice in regard to political issues. Ali’s article discusses healthcare for disabled women. Ali states, “Women are disproportionately affected anytime a healthcare provision gets gutted,” Carrie Wade, program manager of the American Association for People with Disabilities, explained to Ms. ‘Healthcare services that people often file away as women’s issues. Those sorts of things are often the first to go.’” Ali talks about how there was a bill that would result in billions of dollars worth of Medicaid cuts; Medicaid covers nearly 70 million people, including over 10 million disabled people, and women would have the most at stake if the bill became a law (Ali 2018). In the article written by Watkins, she speaks from personal experience of being a disabled black woman and how potential cuts to her medical care would drastically affect her. She talks about how she needs medical equipment, in-home care, and other resources that are funded by her medical care. If there were pay cuts, she most likely would not have access to the necessary care for her and her family would need.

During week five of our course, we were required to read a statement from the Combahee River Collective which discussed black feminism their efforts to end racism, discrimination and class oppression. The speaker states, “As Black women we see Black feminism as the logical political movement to combat the manifold and simultaneous oppressions that all women of color face.” This group and the group from this week’s reading were fighting for similar rights and privileges in their distinctive groups. The black feminists and the LGBTQ+ feminists speak similarly on the topics of discriminaition and oppression.

Overall, this chapter showed me the struggles that many women face on a daily basis for things that they were born with. The part that interested me the most was the fact that some feminists did not want to be associated with transgender women who just wanted to support the cause. Another thing that shocked me was the amount of cuts that could potentially be cut from Medicaid and how many people that this pay cut could potentially affect. I did not know that nearly 70 million people were on Medicaid, and 15% of that are people who have disabilities. Without Medicaid, this 15% would not have access to viable resources that they need to live. Although I could not make a personal connection with the material discussed this week, I gained a strong incite on the struggles of queer and disabled women and the struggles that they still face today. Women, regardless of their preferences and beliefs, should come together in solidarity and fight for equality until it is achieved.

Today most people would agree that climate change is a problem. We can see why this problem through out the world. The ice caps are melting at an alarming rate and forest fires have hit some of the most important places in the world. Environmental activism has taken over the news trying to show us what needs to be done in order to “save the world.” Their protest has caused more problems rather than shown us what needs to be done. This paper argues about how environmental activism can be seen merely as a doomsday cult.

Before we get started with how environmental activism can be seen merely as a doomsday cult, I will define what exactly makes a cult. A cults definition is, “a religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an authoritarian, charismatic leader.” Here are a few characteristics of a cult. In a cult there is always a leader that is seen as a “god.” Which means that the followers look up to the leader and will do anything they say. They have deception in recruiting. When they recruit others, they deceive them into thinking that joining the cult is the only logically thing to do. The cult has isolation, weather that be physical or mental. The cult usually does “activities” on their own with only cult members involved. The cult demands unquestioning devotion and loyalty. This goes back to the leader. The group should not question anything the cult is doing even if it seems wrong. They also have a distinction between “us” which is the people in the group or the good people, and “them” which is the people who do not believe what they believe or the bad people. In the definition of a cult it is referred to as a religious sect, but not all cults are religious. They can be driven by political goals as well. Lastly, they center around predictions of the apocalypse (Layton, 2019).

Now, I will define a doomsday cult. A doomsday cult, according to the dictionary, is a religious movement whose members believe that an apocalyptic event will occur. Doomsday cults always have a charismatic leader. This leader has complete control over his followers, no one in the group questions his decisions, and he is not accountable for anyone in the group. To people outside of a doomsday cult the idea of the world coming to an end on a certain day seems ridiculous, but those in the cult is seems logical. Even with no scientific evidence the followers still believe their leader when he says the world will end. Christianity is the largest religious group in the world. Doomsday cult followers believe their group is just as legit as Christians. Doomsday cults are also reworking their brains into thinking things that are utterly impossible and ridiculous to happen. When they recruit, they deceive people by saying they are the “chosen ones.” They also use the same tactics as those of terrorist organizations to recruit others (Nadi, 2019). When recruiting they also look for exploits. They try and find troubled young people that are “mentally ill.” One common trait among followers in doomsday cults is heightened stress. Most recruits are gullible as they believe ridiculous ideas because they do not know otherwise (Layton, 2019).

Next, I will define environmental activism. Environmental activism definition is a person who advocates for, or works towards, protecting the natural environment from destruction or pollution. They are concerned for what the planet has come to and feel there is a threat that it will end. There are three main approaches to environmentalism. Solution driven activism, change focused activism and revolutionary activism. Solution driven is recognizing a solution to a problem they see, and demanding action happens to fix it. Change focused is the same as solution driven but to a larger scale. This focuses on establishing an alternative system and using it along side the flawed one. Revolutionary seeks immediate change and direct action (Vale, 2016). Although the Extinction Rebellion may be a more dangerous group of environmentalists, they are still environmentalists. The Extinction Rebellion lead many major protests about climate change. One of their protest was on April 15th of this year the Extinction Rebellion gathered thousands to block of roads in London. The organizers said, “it could last several days.” In April the Extinction Rebellion were said to have demonstrations planned in 80 cities across 33 countries. There have been many protests like these this year that have caused a major disruption to the community (Dettmer, 2019).

Finally, I will discuss how environmental activism can be seen merely as a doomsday cult. Doomsday cults always have the leader that no one ever questions. The environmental activists do not have a called-out leader, but Greta Thunberg has taken the role of being their leader. They both would never question their leaders even if they requested or said something ridiculous. In the past doomsday cults were the ones having warnings of the end of the world. Now it is the environmental activists that are releasing these warnings. One of the main contributors of a cult is the warnings of the end of the world. Even though environmentalists are not seen as a religious group they have taken the religious warnings from a god or gods. Brendan O’Neill from The Guardian states that, “Environmentalists have co-opted the poisonous religious notion that a higher power shall punish us for our uncaring behaviour. The recent floods in England were described as a ‘warning’ from nature, just as floods in biblical times were considered to be warnings – or stern tellings-off – from the almighty” (O’Neill, 2007). Even though they may not be seen as a religious group they have started to adopt religious reasons for the events that have happened. No environmentalists, like doomsday cults, have any tolerance for questions about their beliefs. As of right now Extinction Rebellion is the most like a doomsday cult out of all the environmental groups. They want to do anything possible to get their point across. Weather that be protesting on a major roadway or protesting at an airport. Greta Thunberg gave a speech at a United Nations summit in September saying, “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,” Thunberg said in a speech at the UN Global Climate Action Summit in New York. “People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are at the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of endless economic growth. How dare you!” Her saying this on such a big stage can make people who are not environmentalists already feel bad from she is saying and almost recruit them in a way (Chasan and Wainer, 2019). With Greta saying these terrible things about how the world will be in the future and how we will all die from this; it is putting fear among children that do not know much about climate change. They hear these things and it is the first thing they are hearing about then they will be terrified. This is much like what the doomsday cults would do when they predicted the end of the world. They would go around telling everyone the end is near and scare people they have no idea what is actually true.

In conclusion, after seeing what makes a cult, what makes a doomsday cult, what makes an environmental activist, and how they compare it is clear on how environmental activism can be seen as a doomsday cult. Environmentalists fit the description for a cult and then the similarity to a doomsday cult make them fit in the category of a doomsday cult. I think this is important to look at because of how big environmentalists have come to today. They have started to protest in major areas around the world. It will be interesting to see how much more they will do to get their point across. It will also be interesting to see how far they are willing to go. They have already disturbed people’s lives with their protest, but what else will they progress to.

Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X, was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19th, 1925. He was born into an extremely poor household. Malcolm and his siblings had to pick dandelions off the streets and cook the greens to eat. For most of his life, he had an absence of a father figure. When we were young, his father had been attacked and killed by the Klu Klux Klan (KKK). Not too long after his father’s death, the same group burned down his house. The struggle only got worse. After his dad’s death, his mother had to be admitted to an insane asylum. Since Malcolm and his siblings had no place to live they had to go to live with foster parents. Malcolm was very intelligent as a child but his teachers were very discouraging, telling him that he would never be much more than a carpenter because he was black.

Growing up as a black male was difficult at this point in history. Many people had a belief that white people were above every other race, especially blacks. This made it very hard to get a normal job. Sadly, most African American people had to resort to selling drugs or some other illegal practice in order to support themselves and their families. Malcolm was no exception to this. To make a living he sold drugs such as cocaine and marijuana to hustlers and gang members on the street. Not only did he sell drugs but he would also partake in abusing them, using marijuana and even cocaine, as well as alcohol and other intoxicating substances. Being a drug hustler was a risky job so he was always at risk of being arrested.

Malcolm was arrested in the end for robbing multiple houses with his friends. In prison, he found the Muslim religion, Islam. This radically changed his life. In following Allah, he was able to set his life on a straight path again. In addition to his newfound faith, Malcolm educated himself in the prison library in the subjects of history and philosophy. He became very respected by the people that surrounded him.

After serving his ten-year sentence for thievery, he set himself on the right path with the help of his church. The leader, Muhammad, saw great talent in him after he and Malcolm had some personal conversations. Muhammad made Malcolm head-spokesperson of the church.

At this time, more black people, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., had started speaking out about racial inequality. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pacifist, wanting a peaceful solution to the race conflicts. Malcolm, on the other hand, had a more aggressive outlook. He wanted a separate state for black people to live and work together in. He would lead his black brothers in riots against white people and he would make speeches focused on the dishonesty of the white people.

In 1963, Malcolm split from the Nation of Islam, because the leader had silenced him for 90 days for bringing negative attention to the Nation through his speeches and actions. He created his own group, the Muslim Mosque, Inc., which focused on the fair treatment of black people. His aggression toward white people lessened at this time. He even considered Martin Luther King, Jr.’s peaceful approach to the problem! This didn’t stop Malcolm from leading black marches, though, and this continued to anger white supremacists.

Malcolm had been threatened for weeks by various people – death threats against himself and his family. Still, he continued to lead marches and make inflammatory speeches. It was during a speech in Manhattan on February 21, 1965, that a small group of men, thought to be from a rival Muslim group, walked up on stage and shot Malcolm X 15 times.

Malcolm had many difficulties. He had no father, and his mother was not able to parent him, so he had no one to teach him right from wrong. He got involved in crime because he needed money and felt that he had no other options. He went to prison for robbery. He was a black man during a time in history when black people were not looked on as equals by white people.

The experiences that Malcolm had were very different from anything I’ve ever experienced. I have a father and mother who are married and equally present in parenting me and teaching me right from wrong. I have no experience with drugs and alcohol and would never even think of resorting to them as a source of income. I do not even know anyone that has been to jail, let alone prison! I am a white man, born into a white family, living in a predominately white community. My life couldn’t be more different than his. We did share one similarity. We both placed our faith in something. Even though the objects of our faiths are different, they each caused us to live our lives in a better way.

Though Malcolm was dead, his legacy lived on in the many people who felt strongly about racial equality. He pushed the boundaries for black people, giving them more room to have a “say” in society. Through his speeches, he empowered black people to have the courage to stand up for themselves. After his death, his murderers were convicted and punished for their crimes. This was uncommon during that time, so even in death, he was involved in circumstances changing for the better for his people.