Activists Aren’t Defined By Motion, But By Motives

What kind of person is an activist?We might think it has to do with motion.The term "activist" suggests unusually active or action-oriented people.So does the sister category "social movement."And sometimes activists talk about themselves in these terms; they speak of mobilizing people or draw contrasts between talk and action.In my research with environmental activists in Kerala, I often heard exasperated pleas to move beyond mere "discussion" (charcha) and get on to doing things.Here, however, I argue that this way of thinking about activists has exhausted its usefulness.Instead, we do better to think of activism as a configuration of motive-an activist is an especially cause-driven kind of person.