In the speech by Helen Zia, we are introduced to the power of activism in helping to bring relevant social issues to the attention of the general public and how through activism true and lasting change can be enacted. Ms. Zia spoke of the responsibility we all have in campaigning for not only our rights but the rights of others and how activism is a necessary tool to ensure that the freedoms and liberties we take for granted today are not arbitrarily taken away from us. While I do admit that activism is a necessity in the world today due to the many ways in which corporations and government entities have attempted to violate our rights, the fact remains that activism should not be considered an essential responsibility as Ms. Zia has phrased it, rather, activism should be thought of as a luxury available to a select few.
Main body
One of the main problems I had with the lecture was that despite Ms. Zia elaborating on the positive impact activism has had and how it has helped to shape the world as we know it, the problem is that some people do not have the time to be activists. Activities such as caring for one’s family, having a job, making a living, and ensuring that there is food on the table all consume significant amounts of time and make an individual less inclined towards becoming an activist. Thus, from a certain perspective, activism is at times an activity that is entered into by individuals who have a sufficient amount of time and money on their hands. As such, it is not all that surprising that a large percentage of activist leaders and those who start particular activist movements are individuals with significant amounts of monetary resources.
It should also be noted that in countries such as Russia, China, and in several parts of the Middle East, activism has often resulted in the arrest, disappearance, and at times outright death of activists as a direct result of reprisals from the government. While such issues were covered, I believe that Ms. Zia failed to place a significant amount of emphasis on the dangers that activism could have on its participants with the potential for death and disappearance being a very real danger for any activist. This paper though is not a critique against activism at all; in fact, I would highly encourage people to enter into responsible and safe methods of activism. The only problem I have with what Ms. Zia stated was that she failed to give a sufficient delineation between the different types of activism out there and how certain types of activism could result in an individual’s death. Another factor that I would like to point out is that an insufficient level of elaboration was devoted to the power of online social media.
Conclusion
From my perspective, I believe that activism through various online social media tools and websites (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) is the “wave of the future” so to speak due to the way in which it enables particular groups to reach a vast number of people within a short period of time. Websites such as change.org have already shown how effective online social media efforts are in helping activists communicate and share their opinions with the general public. Ms. Zia should have elaborated more on this particular topic and how it can be a means for even people at home to become an activist for change.
Activism can be regarded as the promotion of political, legal, social, or environmental changes within a community. Moreover, it can be aimed at improving the wellbeing of individuals, for example, one can mention the organization of public festivals or even participation in construction projects that are supposed to serve the local residents. In other words, it can take a great number of forms, but this activity is supposed to attract people’s attention to certain problems or controversial questions. In some cases, activism can be closely related to the professional career of a person. For instance, it is possible to refer to the activities of medical workers who strive to help patients throughout the world.
The main argument that can be put forward is that both career and activism are the results of a developed self, but at the same time, they can change people’s perception of themselves and their view of the world. Moreover, one can say that both career and activism are important for the vocational journey of a person and the discovery of his identity; without them, people may not be able to identify their personal goals, needs, and priorities. In this way, people can better understand their professional roles and their top life priorities. These are the key points that should be illustrated in more detail.
Main body
First of all, one can say that both activism and career choices can be explained by certain convictions of a person, his/her beliefs about the community, and the vision of society. Very often, activists try to change public opinion or prompt legislators to adopt new laws. A very similar idea is expressed in the book Restored Selves edited by John Dedecco and Kevin Kumashiro who explore the narratives of people representing the LGBT community.
To a great extent, these narratives demonstrate that these people participate in social and political activism in order to raise their social status and acquire legal protection. Moreover, they regard themselves as people whose lifestyles, ideas, or views are marginalized by mainstream society and its political institutions (Dedecco & Kumashiro 22). This is the thing that motivates them to express their discontent with the existing social order. In order to change this situation, they take part in political and social activism. The examples provided by John Dedecco and Kevin Kumashiro show that political activists can have a very clear and detailed image of themselves.
Furthermore, one should note that people make career choices because they want to change something and help other people. Moreover, they have a certain view of their own self. This argument is eloquently illustrated in the book Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality written by Pauline Chen. The author was once a physician who chose this career path in order to “use her profession to help people” (Chen 6). She viewed herself as a would-be professional who could save or improve the lives of others (Chen 6).
This is a set of perceptions that the author had before her graduation. To a great extent, her choice is the result of a fully-developed self. So, these examples suggest that activism and career can be explained by the self-recognition of an individual. A person has to identify one’s values or worldviews in order to make choices about activism or career. These decisions can be regarded as a consequence of fully developed worldviews, values, principles, and understanding of one’s strengths, weaknesses, and social status. This is one of the key points that one can make.
Nevertheless, it should be kept in mind that activism and career can be a transformative experience for an individual. They help a person better understand the peculiarities of his/her character, motives, interests, or beliefs. His self-perception can also evolve significantly with time passing. In other words, the promotion of social or political change can prompt a person to take a closer look at oneself. This idea has been eloquently expressed by Dana Takagi who says that “activism changes our own self” (Takagi as cited in Dedecco & Kumashiro 132).
For example, people, who participate in LGBT activism, feel more empowered when they are able to voice their discontent with social stereotypes or policies of the state. They no longer feel weak or marginalized. This is one of the main changes that people undergo in the course of their social struggle. To a large extent, activism can assist a person to discover their inner world and his/her inner strengths. So, it is possible to say that activism can have a transformative effect on an individual because he/she can see that there are many other people who have similar views or principles. As a rule, this individual does not regard himself as an outsider (Dedecco & Kumashiro 20). This is one of the main arguments that one should take into account when speaking about the effects of activism on the inner world of a person.
A similar effect can be produced in the course of a person’s professional development. This idea is described by Pauline Chen in her book. The author shows that a medical professional has to review their perception of themselves in order to cope with the challenges that medical workers face. At the very beginning of her career, the author thought that she “would spend her days in triumphant face-offs with death and watch the parade of saves patients return to my office full of life” (Chen 13).
This is how the writer originally perceived herself. In this case, one can speak about the idealized image of oneself and one’s professional roles. On the whole, it is typical of many students and aspiring professionals. However, in the course of her career, the author had to change her opinions. For instance, she began to view herself as a caregiver who may not be able to save every patient, but who strived to provide comfort to the dying person (Chen 15).
Moreover, her worldview underwent a significant transformation. In particular, one should pay close attention to her acceptance of death (Chen 15). Therefore, one can say that the work experience had a transformative effect on the author, her values, and opinions. It seems that such a transformation can be familiar to many other professionals. They do not necessarily become disillusioned with their career; more likely, they become more realistic in the expectations that they set for themselves as well as for others. Thus, a career helps a person understand his/her self.
It should be noted that activism can also prompt a person to identify oneself with a certain ethnic, political, or religious group. This argument is elaborated in the book The Language of Blood written by a Korean-American Jane Jeong Trenka who was adopted by an American family (Trenka 10). The writer shows that he has always felt alienated from others even in the company of her friends. Nevertheless, by trying to protect the rights of adoptees she was able to learn more about her family and her Korean ancestors (Trenka 50). Moreover, she was able to discover her distinct Korean identity. So, activism and social struggle can significantly affect the experiences of a person and his/her sense of belonging to the group.
These cases show that that certain types of activities can result in the so-called recognition of the self. Normally, this effect is produced at that time when a person confronts a situation when he has to reevaluate his/her values, ideals, and behavioral norms. Moreover, an individual can be more empowered when a person has an opportunity to cooperate with people who share the same views, ideas, or political positions. This case was described by John Dedecco and Kevin Kumashiro in their book.
So, both activism and career can prompt a person to look at different aspects of his/her self and re-evaluate their convictions. On the whole, one can say that these experiences are important for the personal development of an individual.
In my opinion, career and activism are vital for the vocational journey of a person. Even the most skilled professional should take a closer look at his/her values, ethical principles, or attitudes. I cannot say that I have encountered such a transformative experience described in these readings. However, I think that my professional career can also affect my perception of myself as well as myself and my values. It seems that in many cases that activism is necessary for the vocational discovery of a person. This experience can help people assess their strengths or weaknesses and break away from traditional stereotypes.
More importantly, activism can give people a more realistic idea of their professional views. At this point, I do not know whether I will actively promoting social or political change. Besides, I do not support violent forms of civil disobedience. In my view, community building is probably the most important form of activism because in this way people can better help one another. By joining their efforts, people can bring improvements to society. I think that this experience can let me become a better professional who can interact with people representing different social or cultural backgrounds. This is why I think that activism is important for the personal and professional growth of a person.
Conclusion
This discussion shows that career and activism are closely tied to self-recognition. First of all, they can be by-products of a fully developed self, in other words, a person can choose a certain career path or become engaged in activism because he/she has some firmly-held beliefs, opinions, or perceptions. More importantly, this individual perceives herself in a certain way. However, a person’s career and activism can dramatically transform people’s perception of themselves.
In particular, people can reevaluate their strengths and weaknesses and their professional roles. Thus, one can argue that that career and activism take their origins in a person’s identity. Nevertheless, they can also transform his/her values, attitudes, or opinions. This is the main issue that people should take into account.
Works Cited
Chen, Pauline. Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality, New York: Vintage, 2008. Print.
Dedecco, John and K. Kumashiro. Restoried Selves: Autobiographies of Queer Asian-Pacific-American Activists, Boston: Routledge, 2003. Print.
Trenka, Jane. The Language of Blood, New York: Graywolf Press, 2005. Print.
Irish government often ignores disabled activists’ concerns and, despite their protests, approves budget cuts for an already underfunded sector. Their voices are excluded from the modern Irish lifestyle narratives because society fails to recognize disabled people as equal, productive members of the community. However, they contribute to society as much as others do, working as entrepreneurs, engineers, educators, and so forth. The budget cuts suggested by the government would push many people in need of assistance in nursing homes, meaning they would lose their independence and would not be able to keep their jobs.
Many people, including some politicians, believe that disabled activists fight for special privileges, while all they want is to enjoy the same rights and opportunities as other people do. For them, there is a clear dichotomy between care and assistance; the one most people fail to see. With little help, disabled individuals can enjoy simple things other people do, such as traveling to another city or going to a bar with friends. They do not need professional care round-the-clock, as many would presume.
The majority perceives disabled people as a group detached from society or, even worse, a burden. Some people do not realize that disabled individuals are not very different from them in their ambitions and desires. Essentially, they want to have a good job, be able to travel, have children, as others do. In order to succeed in their work, activists have to educate people and destroy stereotypes associated with disabilities. Only when a large proportion of the Irish population recognizes the fact that disabled people are full-fledged members of the community, the attitude towards them will start changing.
Throughout its history, feminist activism has undergone many long periods of evolution. With women suffering through different kinds of oppression, feminism’s core ideas developed to better accommodate all the collected experiences. Women suffered the most under racism and became some of its most vocal opponents. They suffered from wars relegating them to objects of male violence and started fighting for peace. Working-class women suffered under capitalism, and their fight for women’s rights became an integral part of socialist campaigns. In all of these cases, women suffered from sexual abuse, and the movement of #MeeToo rose, helping women save each other from the abuse. Thus, feminism has come through many calamities, with women gaining more insight into their struggles and sexuality.
Black Women in Slavery and Relationship
In harsh American slavery, Black women were the most oppressed. Their punishment was often worse than that of their male peers, as they were often raped. Rape was utilized to repress and destroy the slave woman’s will to resist. Lynching presents an interesting statistic as well: in 1896–1900, hundreds of men of color have been lynched for minor misdemeanors (Wells-Barnett 1135). Thus, rape repressed Black women during the times of slavery, while Black men were often targets of lynching, intermixing class, racism, and sexuality.
The personal lives of Black women were influenced even when there was no rape involved. Morrison (34) mentions Pecola, who felt a “lack of human recognition” from a man she knew once he realized she was Black, making her feel shame and then anger (Morrison 48). Another character, a Black woman named Pauline, remained with her abusive husband finding it inappropriate for a Black woman to leave a Black man for a white woman, which she had an opportunity to do. It strained her relationship with the woman and made her feel hurt and desperate (Morrison 120). Therefore, racism has had an important part in sexuality, damaging Black people psychologically.
Feminists’ Backgrounds
Activists against racism came from radically different backgrounds; for example, Ida B. Wells was born into a family of ex-slaves and had to provide for her sisters and brothers as a teacher. Mary Church Terrell, on the other hand, came from a rich family, as her ex-slave father had received money from his master. Still, she devoted her life to the cause of Black liberation. However, Mary Terrell and Ida Wells had a mutual hostility toward each other. Wells claimed that Terrell took part in her exclusion from an 1899 convention fearing for her re-election as president and wanting to limit Wells’ actions against lynching (Davis). Still, for Black women, personal wealth was not the main motivator for activism.
At the same time, white women in the American North compared their respective plights to slavery. White feminists from wealthy families tended to call their domestic lifestyle slavery, while white working-class women compared their economic oppression to slavery. Feminists of the era cooperated with the Socialist party; however, the class differences between white women influenced their work, making the wealthy ones poor feminists or socialists (Davis). Black women, however, never stopped to challenge racism, having experienced it first-hand. It is no surprise that Black people were some of the most notable queer activists as well. One of them, Gladys Bentley, had been facing criticism for it for most of her life, but her strength inspired many of the later LGBTQ+ activists. Thus, white women were only decent activists if they were poor working-class, while Black women never stopped fighting oppression and were pioneers of many new forms of the struggle.
In the present time, women from wealthy backgrounds still take part in the struggle. For example, Harvey Weinstein’s crimes came to be known to the public because his victims were famous. #MeToo, however, makes it possible for people to discuss not just celebrities, but common women as well (Burke). Sexual violence can only be ended by participation from every voice in the world and it will require those whose voices are most often heard to transit those voices that often go unheard as well.
Women and War
Women’s position on the war is unique; gender, as well as identities such as race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, and disability, is ignored by conflict. UN Security Council’s policy demands that all parties engaged in military action take special measures to protect women from gender-based violence such as rape (Chinkin et al.). However, it presents women as a unified category needing help, which is an offensive depiction. At the same time, women make considerable efforts in the struggle for peace, demanding justice and refusing to accept their depiction as passive victims (Chinkin et al.). Women negotiate for ceasefires and passages for humanitarian help and form peace committees. Thus, women are active anti-war participants, rather than simple victims to be taken care of.
Conclusion
Thus, feminism has had a long and turbulent path across its history. Racism is deeply interconnected with feminism, as the first Black activists were the most reliable opponents of both racism and sexism. Their plight as the people who went through slavery influenced white women who had better situations to re-evaluate their station and find similarities between oppression in marriage, slavery, and capitalism. Often this oppression was accompanied by sexual exploitation, which was systematic in slavery. The same can be said about wars; despite officials paying attention to women’s plight on the frontlines, women had to, again, act on their own, as they would have the role of passive victims otherwise. Therefore, slavery, racism, sexuality, feminism, workers’ struggle, and wars have all been deeply interconnected via different historical events.
The practice of branding and promoting a product is usually understood as a complex economic tool. It is a method that deals with attaching social or cultural meaning to a commodity as a means to take it more personally resonant with an individual consumer (Jenkins, 2013). Commodity activism resulted from the process of branding and is referred to as the process by which social action is being perceived through the ways it is embedded into merchandising practices, incentives, and corporate profits (Mukherjee & Banet-Weiser, 2012). Commodity activism, in its essence, means acting politically within and through the culture of commodities (Coombe, 2017). Therefore, it is a political engagement strategy that bridges the gap between a certain political agenda and a commodity – a consumer who purchases a product may be supporting a socio-political message that a brand is promoting (Adams, 2019). In the racial context, commodity activism will use the political discussions of racial and racial tensions to comment on them and use their narratives in marketing campaigns (Sobande, 2020). The ethics of the practice is to be debated because of the different approaches that organizations have to commodity activism (Jones, 2019). Although, the exploration of the concept in the racial context is necessary for revealing how organizations use the message of diversity for strengthening brand reputation.
Historical Context of Racism in Promotional Culture
The explicit and formal ideologies of white supremacy and white privilege have been overturned beginning in the 1960s and the popularisation of the Civil Rights Movement striving for equality. However, the exploration of the modern-day marketing culture has shown that there are new advertising practices that have transposed previous racial schemata into new settings (Sallaz, 2010). As suggested by Sallaz (2010, p. 294) in their study on the ethnography of marketing practices, the target audience of potential consumers was perceived by white marketing managers as “whities” versus denigrated “darkies.” Further discourse into the perspectives on race in the market found that survey data for campaigns often divided the market into “blue-collar” and “jazz” types, which enabled the structuring of the marketing strategies to repel the latter and attract the former (Sallaz, 2010).
Since the last decade has been characterized by critical social developments concerning the role of race, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, advertisers can no longer target white consumers and repel individuals of color (De Choudhury et al., 2016). Companies have been encouraged to get to the drawing board and adjust their advertising in accordance with the new standards and issue the long-awaited apologies and “lessons learned” (Chiu, 2019). Because of this, commodity activism has become widely used to fit the mainstream agenda, even if organizations’ visions do not align with the message that is being communicated. When commodity activism is used in this way, it is unethical because companies promote messages of equality for their financial or reputational gain.
Exploring Campaigns
The examples of commodity activism in advertisement campaigns are numerous. Brands may choose to capitalize on political or social messages to present a particular image of themselves (Vredenburg et al., 2020). This paper aims to study two examples of commodity activism, one represented by McDonald’s Snapchat hiring campaign and the French government campaign to denounce chronic racial discrimination. Both campaigns have received broad coverage in the media as examples of commodity activism and the pushing of the diversity agenda. The importance of analyzing the two campaigns lies in the possibility of showing how companies are using commodity activism to capture a target audience that shares their political views and promotes the messages of equality without considering the implications of using an agenda for a promotion.
McDonald’s is a company with a long history that has inevitably faced criticism regarding discrimination in its hiring decision. In February 2021, McDonald’s made a dedication to increasing the participation of women and minorities in executive positions in the light of the recent discrimination lawsuits (Ghosh, 2021). Paying attention to the way in which the company approaches its recruitment decisions in the light of commodity activism may show whether it aims to improve representation in the public eye or will facilitate tangible and long-term change (Kibert et al., 2020). The recent hiring campaign implemented by McDonald’s focused on attracting and recruiting diverse workers in their desired age range, usually between 16 and 24 years old (Lindman, 2020). Because the target demographic for the hiring campaign is young, Snapchat was chosen as a recruitment channel that can be attractive to the intended audience. The campaign began as ten-second employer branding videos of employees showcasing their experience working at McDonald’s like a call to action. It received traction and got an estimated three thousand applications within the first day (Lindman, 2020). The use of Snapchat showed how the company successfully resonated with its target audience and focused on diverse candidates because no discriminatory or limiting boundaries were established for the job applications.
In the diverse context, the campaign has shown to be particularly successful in Saudi Arabia, with McDonald’s receiving more than 42,000 applications from job hopefuls in the country (Campaign Staff, 2019). For kicking off the campaign, the Snapchat filter was disseminated among ten influences in the Kingdom who shared their stories and advertised the campaign throughout the country. While the campaign was well-received, the implications of technology related to its implementation have not been considered. Because McDonald’s had a specific target audience in mind, the campaign that used Artificial Intelligence created virtual gardens and transferred only the content that the technology ‘thought’ that the audience would like (Yaffe-Bellany, 2019). As a result, the Snapchat campaign was shown only to young and prospective employees who used social media often, thus discriminating against more experienced workers that could have also contributed to McDonald’s.
Similar to McDonald’s call to action for improving diversity in the workplace by opening the hiring process to a broad audience online, the Government of France launched a poster campaign against racism in the hiring sphere (FRANCE24, 2016). The campaign entailed using massive billboards intended to denounce systematic racial discrimination in the French workplace. Each poster has two sides, with one side showing a white candidate for a job and another showing a candidate of color. On the side with the white applicant, there are such captions as “you can start on Monday” or “welcome to the team” (FRANCE24, 2016). On the other side, the captions say “we will get back to you” or “sorry we are not recruiting” (FRANCE24, 2016). The kind of discrimination that is shown in the campaign is concerned with the ongoing and systematic unethical recruitment policies, prejudices, and sometimes laziness on the part of company managers (Safi, 2017). The campaign bears importance to the discussion of commodity activism as its creators aimed to appeal to a large demographic to promote a socially important message that has gained major traction.
Conclusion
The exploration of diversity campaigns in the advertisement industry as related to recruitment has shown that companies would transfer the messages of accountability and transparency to appeal to their audiences (Dwivedi et al., 2020). The issue with commodity activism used in this way is that companies use extensive marketing efforts to persuade the audience to choose a position that is favorable to the organization engaging in promotional efforts (Repo, 2020). The popularization of diversity-themed commodities is intended to entangle the audience into engagement with the brand, with the interactions giving traction to the organization and pushing its agenda to the masses (Jespersen, 2019). Throughout the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, it has become clear that advertising and brand managers need to use such strategies as commodity activism to capture the attention of more progressive and technologically-savvy consumers by appealing to their emotions, affect, and social responsibility (Hearn, 2012). Because of this, within the multi-dimensional context of branding, marketing campaigns are essential for encouraging consumers to develop deep emotional relationships (Kim & Sullivan, 2019).
Neoliberalist, technological, and cultural perspectives on promotional methods have allowed to support and validate the political economy in which the consuming subjects and political culture are closely interconnected (Hearn, 2012). The political shift under the influence of new media convergence and the unified forms of cultural production has been associated with social activism experiences and their impact on the way brands are expected to present themselves (Pottinger, 2015). Thus, both the campaigns explored earlier, such as McDonald’s dedication to promoting inclusiveness in its hiring efforts and the French government’s ads calling employers to stop racially profiling their candidates, are examples of commodity activism rooted in the change of public perspectives on race and equality.
Today, when an organization shows signs of racial discrimination, it is likely that the public will notice quickly and show their disapproval. Commodity activism merges consumer behaviors with political or social goals. Because of this, corporations and even governments have been encouraged to question the unfairness and the lack of diversity within the social sphere, relying upon and reflecting the most fundamental cultural and social relations. In the light of the Black Lives Matter movement, the public views on racism’s pervasiveness have taken a hard turn over the past several years, with more and more people reaching an agreement that discrimination must not be tolerated (Russonello, 2020). Thus, the objective of marketing campaigns, which used to divide potential consumers into “blue-collar” and “jazz” types, is to try not to alienate the audience but to instead broaden the spectrum. The French Labor Ministry’s promotion, for example, shows the implications of racial injustice within the overtly sexist and racist recruitment policies that companies exhibit when hiring workers (European Network Against Racism, 2017). Similarly, McDonald’s cannot afford to show discriminatory hiring practices because its reputation is put on the line when it is revealed that its executives are predominantly male and white (Ghosh, 2021). Therefore, it is one of the main objectives of advertisers to show brands in the most favorable light possible regarding diversity and inclusion, and it can often be problematic as commodity activism allows for the pushing of a narrative that is favored by the masses.
Coombe, R. (2016) ‘The knowledge economy and its cultures: neoliberal technologies and Latin American reterritorializations’, Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 6(3), 247-275.
De Choudhury, M., Jhaver, S., Sugar, B. & Weber, I. (2016) ‘Social media participation in an activist movement for racial equality’, Proceedings of the… International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media, 2016, pp. 92-101.
Dwivedi, Y., Ismagilova, E., Hughes, L., Carlson, J., Filieri, R., Jacobson, J., Jain, V., Karjaluoto, H., Kefi, H., Krishen, A., Kumar, V., Rahman, M., Raman, R., Rauschnabel, P., Rowley, J., Salo, J., Tran, G. & Wang, Y. (2020) ‘Setting the future of digital and social media marketing research: perspectives and research propositions’, International Journal of Information Management, pp. 102168.
European Network Against Racism. (2017) Racism & discrimination in employment in Europe 2013-2017. Web.
Mukherjee, R. & Banet-Weiser, S. (2012) Commodity activism: cultural resistance in neoliberal times. New York, NY: NYU Press.
Pottinger, L. (2015) ‘Roopali Mukherjee and Sarah Banet-Weiser (eds), commodity activism: cultural resistance in neoliberal times’, Journal of Consumer Culture, 15(2), 277-283.
Sallaz, J. (2010) ‘Talking race, marketing culture: the racial habitus in and out of apartheid’, Social Problems, 57(2), pp. 294-314. Web.
Sobande, F. (2020) ‘Woke-washing: “Intersectional” femvertising and branding “woke” bravery’, European Journal of Marketing. Web.
Vredenburg, J., Kapitan, S., Spry, A. & Kemper, J. (2020) ‘Brands taking a stand: authentic brand activism or woke washing?’ Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 39(4), 1-50.
Yaffe-Bellany, D. (2019) ‘Would you like fries with that? McDonald’s already knows the answer’, The New York Times. Web.
Despite stigma ages of cruelty and stigma, the gay community seems to have found the way out by joining hands in various activism events. However, this would never have been possible without the resilience and courage of specific gay individuals. Through the encouragement and illumination of people like Kimba Allen, Jacob Appel, and Christopher Barron, the gay community has managed to defy conventional thought patterns (Hamilton 45). The continuous efforts made by such men have advanced the factions fight for recognition and a place in the society. As queer as gay activists may sound, events like the Seattle Pride prove that the struggles of the gay community have done much more than just accrue them respect. Seattle Pride connotes a succession of annual events meant to celebrate the pride of the gay community in Seattle, Washington (Hamilton 47). Drawing from happenings in this event as well as research from relevant literature and information obtained through interviews, this paper seeks to answer the research question: how effective are the queer activisms in the struggle for gay rights?
Research results
For decades after the founding of the first gay students organization in 1946 (Grinnell 89), the gay community has continued to face resistance until recently. However, through resilience, patience, and queer methods the community has managed to acquire a place in virtually every society. Research through interviews actually indicates that more than 60% of the population in the United States has come to the recognition and appreciation of their gay counterparts. Interviews conducted to establish whether methods used to fight for gay rights have accrued results indicate that gays believe their efforts have culminated in success after the acquisition of extensive support from the corporate arena (Grinnell 90). Actually, interviews carried out reveal that the gay community has acquired a sense of belonging like any other American citizen after endorsement by leading organizations throughout the United States. According to Fetner, any group in society that manages to gain the attention of leading organizations achieves the highest possible goal leaving the masses drawn towards the same belief (61). The 2014 Seattle Pride event seems to have helped the gay community acquire such a status.
As projected by researchers years back, the persistence of the gay community in using methods seemingly strange and anti-religious had to capture the attention of the corporate world (Ball 48). During the 2014 Seattle Pride, participation of companies increased from fifteen in the year 2000 to seventy four- a clear indication that the rest of the world will soon follow suit (Berlatsky 27). Information obtained from interviewing gays concerning the event show that gays deserve respect regardless of one’s school of thought. Actually all gay interviewees were quick to refer to the event noting that the ages of respect and equity they have long waited for have started. This new belief confirms an opinion given by Grinnell that soon the world will be short of ammunition to resist the pliability of the gay community as it seeks equity and recognition (92). It is therefore clear that as queer as gay activists may have sounded, their campaigns have been more than effective.
Alternative research methods
According to Grinnell, consistent reliance on the same methods of research when dealing with a single issue can easily lead to wrong future predictions (94). Since there is a possibility that the turnout of events during the Seattle Pride may have caused gays interviewed to provide inaccurate information, it is wise to consider other methods. Possible future methods are action research, Delphi method, depth interview, and focus group. Action research takes a multi faceted form in researching an issue multiple times until one arrives at a concrete answer (Hamilton 55). On the other hand, the Delphi method involves the participation of experts where they handle the question repeatedly until each separately arrives at the same conclusion. While depth interviews involve long and probing interviews without questionnaires, focus group research method takes the form of group discussion of around eight to ten people during which the moderator keeps the group focused on the issue of research (Grinnell 95).
Change of research question
While researching the same issue repeatedly, it is usually important for researchers to follow their instincts and alter the research question to the extent that it allows room for the acquisition of more information concerning the subject matter (Hamilton 58). Since the effectiveness of gay campaigns seems overclouded by the Seattle Pride in 2014, it is imperative that the succeeding question seek to find out the sustainability of the current achievements of gay activists. The next research question would be; are the current achievements of gay activists sustainable? This double-edged question will not only help deal with the issue of achievement sustainability but will also help in finding out whether the findings of this current research are reliable. According to Power, subsequent questions of research must seek to unearth weaknesses and bias in previous research findings (68). In addition, the proposed research question merges well with the four proposed subsequent methods of research.
Works cited
Ball, Carlos. The Morality of Gay Rights an Exploration in Political Philosophy. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2014. 45-52. Print.
Fetner, Tina. How the Religious Right Shaped Lesbian and Gay Activism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2008. 59-66. Print.
Grinnell, Lanster. “Intolerable Subjects.” Moralizing Politics, Economic Austerity, and Lesbian and Gay Activism in Mexico City 7.3 (2012): 87-100. Print.
In the context of any activism, intersectionality allows broadening the movement and including more vulnerable groups to protect. At the same time, the incorporation of additional groups into a particular cause may obfuscate the initial goals of the movement. For instance, in the case of the “Black Trans Lives Matter,” the specified slogan appears to exclude the rest of the African American population, which suffers from oppression and police violence as well.
Main body
Nevertheless, it is crucial to introduce intersectionality into modern movements to ensure the inclusion and protection of the rights of vulnerable groups (Lewis 12). Applying intersectionality to the Second Wave Feminism, one will notice how the movement began to include women of color and women belonging to different social classes as opposed to the First Wave Feminism (Evans and Lépinard 99). Likewise, considering the Stonewall riots from the intersectional perspective will help to understand the struggles through which members of the LGBT community had to go. Therefore, by introducing intersectionality principles into modern liberation movements, one will ensure that the needs of vulnerable groups are met.
Evolution of Hate
Hate is one of the main vehicles driving the problem of discrimination and prejudices forward and exposing vulnerable groups to a variety of threats. Caused by the lack of understanding of vulnerable people’s plight, as well as their intentions and needs, hatred has been affecting interpersonal relationships for millennia (Lewis 28). However, the specified phenomenon has also evolved, taking new shapes with every turn of societal progress. The modern concept of hate appears to have been amplified by the rapid development of social media and the propensity toward online bullying (Dunbar et al. 9).
Conclusion
Due to the opportunities that modern social media provides for people to unite into groups, those deemed as outsiders are likely to face a surge in online aggression. On the one hand, confrontations in the digital setting do not inflict physical harm upon vulnerable people. However, on the other hand, anonymity creates a shield under which hatred may be cultivated.
References
Dunbar, Edward W., et al., eds. The Psychology of Hate Crimes as Domestic Terrorism: US and Global Issues: US and Global Issues. ABC-CLIO, 2016.
Evans, Elizabeth, and Éléonore Lépinard, editors. Intersectionality in Feminist and Queer Movements: Confronting Privileges. Routledge, 2019.
Lewis, Gavin. WCIV Volume II. Cengage Learning, 2012.
The article titled “Youth-led activism and political engagement in New Zealand: A survey of Generation Zero” is published in Communication Research and Practice, an international scholarly journal that publishes research on the different aspects of communication. The authors are Giles Dodson and Evangelia Papoutsaki from the Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand. The article analyses the membership of Generation Zero, a youth-led environmental organization, to provide a “preliminary understanding of [its] demographic and political profile” (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017, p. 195). As the authors admit themselves, this choice of topic was due to the article being a part of a larger research project on the organization’s activism in New Zealand (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017). However, they also point out that their case study provides a better understanding of the hybrid and entrepreneurial political campaigning in New Zealand (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017). Thus, the intended audience of the article is not only those interested in environmental activism in New Zealand and, in particular, Generation Zero, but a broader group of readers interested in contemporary campaigning on the internet.
The authors aim to characterize the efficiency of Generation Zero’s online campaigning by analyzing the organization’s membership by several criteria. These include age, gender, income level, political engagements, media consumption, and others (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017). The authors collected the information via the electronic membership survey containing 22 questions, including check-boxes, Likert scale, and verbatim questions (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017). By securing the cooperation of Generation Zero, the authors were able to distribute the questionnaire through the organization’s customer management database (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017). All in all, 8148 members of the organization were invited to participate, and 8.5% of them agreed and provided answers, thus leaving the authors with a sample of 693 completed surveys (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017). Hence, the method employed in the article provided a fairly representative dataset to work with.
The results of the completed surveys suggest that the membership of Generation Zero is highly homogenous in multiple respects. It tends to have an income above the median, and almost three-quarters of the organization members are under 40 years of age (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017). They also demonstrate a higher-than-average degree of political involvement, measured by the vote enrolment, and are “overwhelmingly supportive of the Green Party” (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017, p. 202). As a result, the authors conclude that the current membership of Generation Zero is overwhelmingly concentrated in the urban educated middle class below 40. Consequently, Dodson and Papoutsaki (2017) conclude that the organization’s demographic focus is narrow, and it should seek a more diverse membership to broaden its appeal beyond the current activist core.
Research Conversation
The authors demonstrate that their work is firmly grounded in the previous research and connected to the many ongoing scholarly discussions. They refer to the recent scholarly works extensively when defining the basic terms used in the articles, such as “youth” and “political engagement” (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017, p. 196). This approach allows the authors to build credibility in the eyes of the audience by demonstrating their awareness of the current developments and debates in their chosen scholarly field. Apart from that, it also allows relating the research conducted for the article to broader issues, as in the examples outlined below.
One of the ways the authors engage in a conversation with previous research is entering the debate on youth political engagement. Dodson and Papoutsaki (2017) mention the assumption that “young people, in particular, are actively disengaged from politics,” but immediately point to the scholarly works that criticize and rebuke this claim (p. 197). The results obtained through the authors’ research also contradict the idea of youth being detached from political life and disinclined to participate in it. According to the article, 95.7% of the young membership of Generation Zero is enrolled to vote, as compared to the average 84.21% for this age group in New Zealand in general (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017). This data openly contradicts the notion that younger citizens of New Zealand are less inclined to participate in politics than their older counterparts and, thus, the article contributes to a broader discussion.
The article’s discussion of Generation Zero’s online campaigning enters a conversation with the previous research as well, as it relates to yet another debated issue. The authors note that according to one existing perspective, online political activism “may be displacing conventional forms of political engagement,” most notably among youth (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017, p. 198). They supplement this notion with ample references to scholarly literature, thus establishing it as a broadly debated issue. However, the results of the research demonstrate that Generation Zero urges its members to take part “in public political processes” as opposed to limiting themselves solely to online activities (Dodson & Papoutsaki, 2017). By doing so, Dodson and Papoutsaki (2017) put their findings in a conversation with the previous research, which allows them to go beyond announcing the results of the study. Instead, the authors put their findings and conclusion in the context of a larger scholarly debate regarding youth political participation and engagement as facilitated or impeded by online communication.
References
Dodson, G., & Papoutsaki, E. (2017). Youth-led activism and political engagement in New Zealand: A survey of Generation Zero. Communication Research and Practice, 3(2), 194-211.
Over the past, social movements and protests were dominated by adults, with few youths. However, as the world continue to evolve, from the religious dogma to the scientific creationism, youth activism and movements have taken a different facet. Recently the world is witnessing many youths coming out in large numbers to form movements to protect their rights. This paper therefore, seeks to analyze this change while highlighting the causes, impacts and assumptions of youth involvement in social movements.
Primary Argument
Young activists have led public protests and action on a variety of issues, including climate change and abortion rights with their presence in politics sparkling fierce controversy. Research done by Earl unveils that, it is vital to guarantee that young people are actively involved in social movements, and activities in order to encourage active citizenship and build programs that effectively represent their interests and concerns.
Key Elements that are Fundamental to the Argument
Understanding youth transition is critical for social movements. When youths grow into adulthood, they tend to exhibit habits and routines they developed as children. This may have significant implications on their future social life and relationship with others. In this regard they may join forces and movements to protest for their rights whenever they feel oppressed. Moreover, they are more mobile than the older generation, thus issues confronting them are an important part of social movements. They are frequently disregarded for a lack of civic involvement or criticized for disrupting oppressive laws, norms, and practices, despite the fact that disrupting oppressive laws, norms, and practices is a vital aspect of all liberatory movements.
Provided Evidence
It is evident that young people are politically engaged and actively participate in the formation of their own political socialization. Unlike previous protests or lobbying efforts, it is clear that technology has become an integral part of many current youth movements. Multiple studies reveal that, using the internet and finding information online has a favorable impact on political activity (Lee 40). The research states that in the twenty-first century, popular sites like Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube have become the new instruments for young activists. Technology and the emergence of digital media have revolutionized the way young people participate in activism around the world.
Underlying Assumption
The assumptions of these arguments are based on the current world trends and historical analogies. For instance, opinions in these articles assumes that young people must be politically mobilized by adults to actively participate in movements and become activists. Most young people limit their involvement movements because they believe they are not old enough to take part in social movements, thus, to participate in social movements they must receive an external force from their leaders.
Intended Audience
Despite the fact that the research reveals communication techniques for effective adolescent engagement in social movement transformation, these tactics may be similar to communication strategies for a broader audience. Following the arguments of the importance of young people in activism, as well as reports that young people are increasingly resorting to protest, the most intended audience is the youth (Earl). The tone, styles and main arguments depicted in the authors’ works clearly reveals youths as the intended audiences. Recognizing that the target audience is primarily made up of teenagers and young adults and taking it into account, the authors’ finds it easy to choose the appropriate language and style to effectively pass their message to the audience.
Tone Adopted
The authors’ works reveals a descriptive style with an honest, and formal tone throughout their literatures’. Additionally, they employ assertive tone with a focus on positive, aspirational, and powerful concepts. For instance, Instead of focusing on short-term objectives they assert that communications should reflect the kind of connection that the state is aiming to develop with its young residents and focus on long-term behavior and involvement. Thus, the tone is seen as beneficial as it asserts that when governments communicate with young people, they typically avoid overtly partisan content and instead focus on engaging around social or policy concerns in a way that does not support the goal of a particular political party or group.
Lee, Ashley. “Invisible networked publics and hidden contention: Youth activism and social media tactics under repression.” New Media & Society, vol. 20, no. 11, 2018, pp. 4095-4115.
This book is about the power of online activism. The author reveals how it is hard to contain a society that is not satisfied with the status quo.
With well elaborated illustrations, the book reveals how a society fights against corruption in government, abuse of employee rights and social inequalities among other hot button issues through the online platform.
The book reveals that the Chinese online audience is actually a society taking into consideration that it has more than 253 million users (Yang 2), whose ages and occupations are quite diverse (Yang 32).
This book simply shows how the Chinese people have resorted to cyberspace as a means of fighting against vices they view to be wrong in the society.
The author puts this more clearly “This book is about people’s power in the Internet age” (Yang 1). The author makes a number of arguments three of which are
The cyberspace users form a society: The internet offers a platform where people grow stronger in the pursuit of their rights
The civil society is taking an interest o societal affairs: As opposed in the past, there is a change in the manner of managing crisis to a bottom-up process.
Grievances will always be aired irrespective of the obstacles confronted: It is not possible to completely censor the opinions of the society especially where injustice is involved.
How the Themes are related to Class Work
This section discusses the above listed arguments made by the author. References are made to the class lecture notes and articles used in the course syllabus. An attempt is made to relate the class work with the views expressed in the book especially in regard to the three arguments identified above in the introduction section.
The internet users form a society
Yang presents the cyberspace as a platform where people grow stronger in the pursuit of their rights. Internet users have grown explosively in numbers. Yang puts the figure, as at 2008, at 253 million users (Yang 2). He also illustrates that the internet users are of various ages and occupational backgrounds (Yang 32).
This online society is quite heterogeneous with groups like “homeowners, pensioners, migrants, hepatitis-B carriers, ant farmers, consumers, computer gamers and pet owners” (Yang 27).
He further notes that there is participation by ordinary people in issues that affect them: “Ordinary people engage in a broad range of political actions and find a new sense of self, community, and empowerment” (Yang 2). The author therefore shows that indeed the Chinese cyberspace users form a society.
What is covered above by Yang is directly related to what has already been covered in class. This trend whereby people form groups of association is common with the Chinese. Lecture 16 shows how members of the society attempt to form groups which will fight for their own rights.1
In the class work, the willingness of the Chinese society to fight policies which are harmful was also discussed. It was shown that students have been very vocal in fighting for the rights of various members in the society. The social evils against which public demonstrations have been carried out were discussed well and mainly touch of disrespect of civil rights by government agencies.2
As one may expect in societies, public events receive response. Some events receive praise while others are condemned. The internet users are very quick to apportion praise or condemnation to any public events as the need arises. Yang shows how the Chinese cyberspace is active in reacting to unjust actions which affect the public.
In some cases, the internet society has forced the central government to spring into action on issues it had previously ignored. The story of illegal brick kilns in the province of Shamxi and many more others are just illustrations of the effectiveness of the internet society in China as illustrated in the book.
Articles used in class showed that the Chinese society has evolved to fight for its members. These articles showed students being at the fore front especially in championing the rights of the marginalized in the society.3 It was also shown that during national calamities, the Chinese people have a strong will to stand by each other.4
Therefore, the willingness of the online community to stand by each other as Yang depicts is well reconciled. The last lecture we had in the month of March touched on how some environmental Non Government Organizations have found reinforcement from online communities.5
The civil society is taking an interest in societal affairs
As opposed to the past, there is a change in the manner of managing crisis to a bottom-up process. This is expressed in the class article by Shawn Shieh and Guosheng Deng. The people made a great demonstration of a bottom-up strategy in dealing with the crisis that confronted the people of Sichuan.
We learned that the Chinese society is growing more cohesive and members of the society are learning to help each other without necessarily being pushed by the government.6 Class lectures also showed that Chinese society is becoming more used to engaging the government through public demonstrations.
Again students were shown to be very active in this area. This can be said to be a trend which has been gradually growing within the Chinese civil society.7 This is clearly shown throughout the book as the civil society uses the internet to air their grievances against actions they view as being unfair.
Evidence in the book that the civil society is taking more interest in affairs concerning the society comes out well when the determination of the internet users against bad policies is reviewed. The chapter titled Civic Association Online shows how civic associations are actively encouraging the online communities to join hands for the common good of the Chinese people. The author shows that the internet is playing a leading role in creating informed citizenry.
This trend of the civil society trying to emerge amid suffocation from government suppression was well discussed in the lectures. A historical snapshot shows that after what seemed to be a rapid growth of civil society organs, the violent Tiananmen Square demonstration suppression slowed these organs. However, afterwards there was a renewed growth of these organs.8
Lecture 16 also highlighted the efforts of civic bodies to push the government for reforms. It was shown that the civic bodies believe that reforms in the governments were required. The interference of the party in government was pointed out as an obstacle to these reforms.
The kind of issues that raises responses from online communities are varied but all of them affect the people. According to Yang, the issues that the online community has responded to are “popular nationalism, rights defence, corruption and power abuse, environment, cultural contention, muckraking, and online charity” (55).
As already noted from lecture notes and articles, these are issues that the Chinese society has been fighting against. Through the article ‘Popular Protests’ various issues that the Chinese society has been pushing for were discussed. These issues are very similar to the ones that the author has listed above.9
The lectures showed, for instance, how the household responsibility system was adopted by the people secretly and later openly despite the government dragging its feet to give it a full support.10
Grievances will always be aired irrespective of the obstacles confronted
The author also argues that the society will always air their grievances no matter what obstacles are on the way. This determination has been demonstrated several times in class through various articles. One good illustration is the 1989 Tiananmen protest by students.11 It is not possible to completely censor the opinions of the society especially where injustice is involved.
The author argues that despite the constant effort by the authorities to censor the internet, the Chinese online community has always found ways of going round this obstacle. He notes that “state power constrains the forms and issues of contention, but instead of preventing it from happening it forces activists to be more creative and artful” (Yang 7).
This has been well illustrated through the class work. Being creative and artful in the expression of opinion in the face of stern opposition from the state and state organs seem to the way of the Chinese society as was illustrated in the use of the ‘democratic wall’ by students.12
From the articles used in class, it was also shown that the members of the society quickly learn from each other. And if what they learn is important but somehow suppressed by the government, it is adopted and applied in secrecy. The people also have a way of defending themselves if they are taken to task on why they adopt such actions.13
Under the chapter Politics of Digital Contention the author gives details of how the state has engaged internet activism specifically to ensure that it is under control. The state is always watchful and applies different techniques to ensure that the internet community is censored. It has already been shown in the class that the Chinese government has that tendency to control the public.14
The book also raises a lot of concerns that censoring the Internet might be slowing the economy of the nation. Free access to information and exchanging of such information freely greatly determines economic growth of a nation. It also empowers people as there is exchange of information with the world.
The censorship of the internet however hampers this free flow of information and therefore does not encourage transparency.
In class, the effect of the high handedness of the government was shown. It was discussed that this control by the government negatively affects the economy of China – lack of transparency in state function fosters corruption and therefore affects the economy.15
Hampering free flow of information by the state is an old trend in China. The Mao era was strongly opposed to free expression of views by writers and those who were suspected to be against the government were subjected to harsh conditions and as a result literary work in China suffered a great blow.16
Conclusion
Guobin Yang makes a compelling argument that the internet has become a force to reckon with in China. He systematically shows how the internet use has affected the civil society in very great ways.
In this article, the arguments made by Yang are discussed in three themes: the cyberspace users form a society, the civil society is taking an interest in societal affairs, and grievances always get aired no matter what kind of obstacles are faced.
These themes are discussed as Yang presents them in the book with special reference to the lecture notes and articles used in the coursework.
The arguments made by author were part of the issues that were discussed in class. The first argument by the author was that the Chinese tend to form a society through the internet platform.
Several of the articles that were covered in class showed that Chinese people have adopted the spirit of working together as a society. This is especially the case when they need to help each other or when they are fighting against government brutality or high handedness.
The class work had also covered the second argument by the Yang. Civil bodies are continuously teaching the citizens on their rights. Part of the 16th lecture covered in class discussed how various bodies are pushing for reforms in the government.
The class work also covered the attempts by students to launch public demonstrations some of which were ended fatally. All these illustrate that the society has become more sensitized to issues affecting them than they were in the past.
Lastly, class work also showed that the society is dynamic and adopts various ways of expressing their grievances. It was also shown that when the government becomes too restrictive, the society resorts to secret measures as is discussed in the article Calamity and Reform in China by Dali L. Yang on page 159.
Works Cited
Yang, Guobin. The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. Print.
Footnotes
1 Lecture 16 on Political Reforms, slide number 16.
2 Popular Protest in China’ by Kevin J. O’Brien.
3 ‘Civil Society and political Change in Asia’ edited by Muthiah Alagappa on page 441. Also refer to lecture 16 slide number 6.
4 Article ‘An Emerging Society: The Impact of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake on Grass-roots Associations in China’ by Shawn Shieh and Guosheng Deng.
5 Page 147 of the article ‘Popular Protest in China’ by Kevin J. O’Brien
6 ‘An Emerging Society: The Impact of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake on Grass-roots Associations in China’ by Shawn Shieh and Guosheng Deng
7 ‘Popular Protest in China’ by Kevin J. O’Brien
8 ‘Civil Society and Political Change in Asia’ specifically chapter 13.
9 ‘Popular Protest in China’ by Kevin J. O’Brien
10 Chapter six (The Political Struggle over Reform) of the book Calamity and Reform in China by Dali Yang examines this trend
11 ‘China Politics 20 years later’ by Joseph Fewsmith.
12 Refer to Dennis J Doolin, Communist China: The Politics of Student Opposition, p. 15.
13 Calamity and Reform in China by Dali L. Yang on page 159
14 ‘China Politics 20 years later’ by Yang.
15 Ibid
16 Communist China: The Politics of Student Opposition by Dennis J Doolin on p. 16.