Slactivism: My Least Favorite Buzzword of 2011

Yesterday, someone called me a Slactivist. This was in response to a Facebook post about Indigenous People’s Remembrance Day (instead of Thanksgiving) and the irony of people camping out for Twilight and Black Friday without incident or pepper spray. I don’t think that any of these things are specifically untrue or controversial, as camping out for Black Friday and Twilight occurred and no one was arrested, and indigenous people should be thought of on Thanksgiving. Either way, the point is that apparently this comment constitutes Slactivism, which, according to Wikipedia, involves things like “signing Internet petitions, joining a community organization without contributing to the organization’s efforts, copying and pasting of Social Network statuses or messages or altering one’s personal data or avatar on social network services” or donating to a charity.

By these guidelines, sure, my Facebook status constitutes slacktivism. However, I can’t really have huge problems with that, because I have even bigger problems with the fact that slactivism is even a named and branded perjorative that is used to belittle people, especially young people, by “activists,” or people who just disagree with them. So, here, Tumblr, is a brief overview of why I hate the term and idea of slactivism. 

First, slactivism insinuates that there is a correct way to be politically or socially active. This is incredibly false. We can probably mostly agree that when we post a Facebook status or reblog a picture from Occupy Wall Street, we don’t feel as politically involved as the people there. However, I’m not sure that this is a problem warranting belittlement. So many people, especially young people, are not politically involved, and the continued development of technology is starting to change that. Is tweeting your support the same thing as standing amidst Cairo protestors? Obviously not, but now somewhere some 16 year old boy on his computer knows what is going on. And, even for a minute, he cares about it, enough to tell someone else who didn’t know. That person probably cares too, and so the cycle continues. The purposeful spreading of news, support, and information-  why isn’t this activism? Why should we tell people that there is a correct way to be an activist, and then shun or mock them when they can’t fulfill that role? Who decides what activism is, and why should we disenfranchise people who, maybe for the first time, feel activism in their own lives, in whatever form? 

Secondly, slactivism is a privileged term. Activism, as seen through the lenses of those so quick to cry slactivism, is a privilege. It is cost-prohibitive. It is dangerous. It is often racist, classist, sexist and heteronormative. I admire from the deepest parts of my heart those people camped out in New York and all over the country, many of them who are there despite these conditions. They are better people than I am, better citizens, and I admit that. My life as it currently stands does not allow me to partake in continued activism that like without serious repercussions for myself and my family. You can call me scared, or not married to the cause, or a coward, or a slactivist, but it doesn’t change the fact that I must do what I can with what I have right now.

So I blog. I work for political campaigns and non-profits. I phone bank. I post Facebook statuses! I protest. I write op-eds. I vote (seriously…go vote.) I understand that these things are small-scale and they in no way compare to the people putting literally their lives on the line in the streets for their rights. Those people are undeniably activists. They are my heros. When I can, I join them. However, I do not think it is fair to classify those who are not participating similarly as slacktivists. There is activism in everyday life, in multiple forms. I perform my gender and sexual expression as an act of political resistance. Someone puts a Ron Paul 2012 sticker on their car. A mother wears a “Bring the Troops Home” pin to work. A boy posts a political rally video on Tumblr. You sign a petition, you donate to a cause, you spread the word. In my eyes, this is also activism. This is political participation, and it matters! Why should we belittle these small gestures, when little by little they add up, they encourage, they spread news and information, they start campaigns, they start revolutions. Why are we so hell bent on political activism by ideal standards, when the cold hard truth it, not everyone can or will meet them? 

Activism is everywhere, large and small, loud and quiet, public and private. We should embrace this, because when we don’t, we fight against our own causes, our own people, and our own voices.