The power of protest and activism

The stimulus is the observation that protests define the world today. Just look at any issue of a newspaper: Hong Kong people's protests, the School Strike 4 Climate and Greta Thunberg's speech at the United Nations, each of which had their own Australian rallies. There have been competing rallies over abortion law reform in New South Wales.

Right wing activists rally, so political activism is not just a left-wing phenomenon, though it is probably more common on that side of politics. The Duchess of Sussex has just honoured some surviving founding members of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. The Me Too movement continues to gain momentum in the media and in educational institutions.

There has been push back not just from governments, including our own, but from conservative commentators mocking the lament by leading activist Tim Flannery that decades of climate action had not achieved its goals.

Activism, by one common definition, involves participating in vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change. While that definition could include parliamentary and election campaigning, this activity is not normally seen as the focus of such activism, which is associated with extra-parliamentary protest. Activism overlaps with parliamentary politics, but springs from a belief that parliamentary politics is insufficient by itself, and on some issues is a complete failure. Parliament can be the problem not the solution.

No matter how many people participate in street protests and activism they almost always don't represent a majority of voters. It would be unreasonable to expect that anyway given the extra personal effort involved in activism, which is a departure from their everyday life for most people.

There are two aspects to the disdain of the majority for activism.

One is disinterest and disengagement, demonstrated most clearly in limited voting turn out when voting is voluntary. There is much written about apathy as an alternative to engagement. Disinterest is not just found in attitudes towards federal and state politics, but also in attitudes to other forms of community engagement like local government, strata title management and sports clubs. It is summed up in the informal use of the term 'good citizen' to describe that small minority of individuals who step forward in all environments to volunteer and to hold office. The majority, for whatever reason, stand back.

The second aspect, encouraged by political leaders who want politics off the front page, is unease with demonstrations of intense political opinions. Many people just can't handle anything which seems like confrontation. That's why a list of synonyms for activism is dominated by terms like fanaticism, radicalism, zealotry, dogmatism, militancy and partisanship.

I've had the experience myself in the past of being criticised for caring too much about an issue. The critic saw this as abnormal. In the church reform movement, in which I'm currently engaged, activists are frequently dismissed by the authorities for not being open-minded enough and having their own agendas. As if those in authority do not.

Activism should be distinguished not just from election campaigning but also from professional political lobbying. Activism is a citizen activity, though often organised by community leaders. Lobbying, on the other hand, is generally an elite form of engagement with the political process, often conducted by paid intermediaries who lobby parliamentarians and bureaucrats for a living.

What lobbying does have in common with citizen activism though is a desire to bring about, and sometimes to prevent, social and political change. The mixed fortunes of lobbying, the role of counter-lobbying, and the difficulty of really determining whether lobbying has been successful in its interaction with parliamentary politics are all warnings to activists to be realistic about their chances of success.

There are many examples of successful community activism, such as opposition to slavery, the suffragette movement for the voting rights of women, the gay rights movement and the anti-apartheid movement.

Others, including various peace movements, animal rights movements and various environmental movements have a much more mixed record. Opinions vary within these movements as to how successful they have been. Partial successes and incremental steps forward satisfy some activists but not others.

Activism is not just about success, however, but about personal integrity and expression. Many people are called to activism as a necessary expression of their beliefs. While others may scoff, they cannot live any life but an activist one.

Activism is a hard slog. Realistically many of its goals are long-term and involve social transformation on a massive scale. That is certainly true of climate action and gender relations. The Hong Kong activists, like those in West Papua and parts of the Middle East, are facing unrelenting governmental power.

Success may be the goal, though not necessarily clearly defined. Many activists will regularly be on the losing side. Many will have passed away before victory of any sort has been achieved. Others will only live to see compromise and partial success. None of this will deter activists for social and political change who believe in the rightness of their cause.