On this blog we set out to examine activist communication styles and how they connect to digital spaces, new media, international development and ultimately also social change. We have come across a whole palette of different communication styles and methods, including everything from alpacas to book bans to clicktivism, guided by the overarching question of “what is legit activism”?
Online activism has become a powerful tool for social and political change in many parts of the world (Tüfekçi, 2017). In many regions, however, the internet is not as open and free of a space as we would like to think. China is a prime example of a country where online activism faces significant challenges due to government censorship and control.
In this collaborative interactive blog post, we would like to explore how activists work with interactive communication in digital ways to create dialogue and participation around development questions. We take a closer look at activists using communication methods that seem to recognize this phenomenon, and instead of attracting passive slacktivism, invite their audiences to real engagement and contribution. Could activist communication that taps into digital/viral trends achieve more than just attention? And could this type of communication lead to enhanced engagement, dialogue, mobilization, and change? Or is Online Activism Slacktivism?
In my first post on the (il)legit activism blog, I’d like to approach the topic of silence in activism. Can silence convey a message? What can silence achieve? And how can we understand and interpret silence? Can silence be legit activism? When I hear the word ‘activism’, many things come to mind: People in the streets marching, holding up banners, and chanting the message they want to get across. Also, demonstrations, rallies, speeches, petitions, marches and more. None of these immediate associations with activism are silent. On the contrary, most of them are rather loud, and to some extent, I would probably expect activism to be loud by nature, after all, activism tends to have something to say.
We are super excited to kick off this journey and would in this very first post like to introduce you to the overall idea that’s behind this blog, and also shortly introduce ourselves. After all, who are we to evaluate if something is legitimate or not, if our readers won’t have the possibility to assess if they can trust us? “Illegit” is a play on the words legitimate/illegitimate, where the ‘i’ also stands for the person who ultimately decides on the (il)legitimacy of activism on their own terms. Likewise, “I” in English serves as a conversation opener.
