Someone put me in touch with the person behind this excellent Ending Activism blog. I am working my way through it at the moment – it has some interviews with people about why they got involved in activism and why they left.
I think what is rarely stated in the interview answers, but that is there if you read between the lines, is that ‘activism’ is often engaged in something like a hobby, rather than being a part of everyday life. And it is a very tiring, awkward and frustrating hobby. If your political action isn’t embedded in your life as a positive part of your everyday life – which isn’t to say you can’t be more or less active at different times – then I think it’s quite predictable that people give up on it. Life takes over.
Mmm, but this leads to difficult challenges. How can we resist an effective power structure in a way which is habitual and not a tiring struggle?
Consider that studies show(ask if you want) that we’re well psychologically adapted to become happy with situations we’re stuck with, but that if we consider a situation to be changeable, this happiness-adjustment won’t come into play.
Involvement in struggle can be energising, but can also be tiring.
How can it be made more habitual, more sustainable and less unpleasant for a wider range of people?
The worrying possibility is that if we can’t find a good answer to that question, we’re left at the mercy of those with (greater) power. As long as they can keep the balance such that our lives are less unpleasant than the prospect of struggle, the populous will remain passive.
There may be a few oddballs, but it seems to be something of a prisoners dilemma. A minority may choose the risky option, but most won’t.
What can swing the tables?