A Critical Review of Social Movement Theory: Gender and Emotion in Activist Cultures

This chapter sets up the theoretical context of the book. It begins by establishing the key relevant debates in Social Movement Theory (SMT), including that of new versus old social movements, the influence of new media technologies on social movements and the role of emotions within social movement studies. This chapter identifies the theoretical perspective for studying activist culture, drawing on Bourdieu’s (1992) theory of practice. This will serve as the basis for developing an analysis of the affective and cultural dimensions of social movement activism. It is contended that this approach enables the development of in-depth ‘thick description’ (Geertz, 1973) and an understanding of the interactions between activists as well as between the activist field and the wider social and political context, which is a theme threaded throughout the book. The chapter highlights feminist critiques of mainstream (or ‘malestream’) SMT’s failure to recognise the importance of gender to theorising social movements. This is contextualised by a wider discussion about the gendered exclusions that exist within the public sphere.

An Introduction to Local Anti‑Austerity Activist Culture

This chapter sets the scene by outlining the importance of applying a cultural, affective, feminist approach to studying social movements. The chapter begins by providing an overview of the aftermath of the financial crisis and introducing austerity. It then identifies the key strands of the book; the affective dimension of political engagement; social movements and emotions; gender and social movement activism. A brief overview of the research project is provided, focusing on the feminist approach to research. This chapter concludes with a chapter outline for the book.

The Dark Side of Activist Culture and its Gendered Dimension

This chapter explores the ‘dark side’ of activist culture, labelled this because of its negative effects and the fact that it is hidden from public view. It illustrates the negative aspects, including how the activist identity is maintained and policed by other activists through practices of shaming. It examines the implications of such practices and of the ideal activist identity, focusing on ‘activist burnout’ and its relation to care (or a lack of it) within activist culture. While the ideal activist is constructed within the local anti-austerity activist culture as an abstract individual, this chapter argues that it is actually the white, able-bodied male, given the criteria that define it. Significantly, this chapter asserts that the implicit gendered nature of the ideal activist identity and its damaging gendered consequences are not recognised, resulting in gendered symbolic violence – with women feeling guilt and blaming themselves for their perceived failure to adequately perform the identity. This chapter thus reveals the complex ways in which spaces of resistance can reinforce dominant gendered power structures, while ostensibly fighting against them.

The Authentic and Ideal Activist Identities: Having the ‘Right’ Motivation and Doing ‘Enough’ of the ‘Right’ Type of Activism

This chapter explores the ways in which the activist identity is constructed and negotiated within local anti-austerity activist culture. It begins by establishing the shared meanings and context-specific nature of the term before discussing in more detail the two main constructions of the activist identity present in participants’ narratives. The first identity is the ‘authentic’ activist who has the required lived experiences to possess the authority to speak about certain topics. Having explored barriers that prevent individuals and groups from doing activism under the question of who can do activism in Chapter 5, this chapter considers the question of who should do activism, according to participants. The second main construction of the activist identity that this chapter explores is the ‘ideal activist’, which is defined by the type and amount of activism one does. In order to be considered an ideal activist, individuals must do ‘enough’ of the ‘right’ type of activism (direct action rather than online activism). This chapter demonstrates that the ideal activist identity is underpinned by the distinction participants draw between talking and doing, which feeds into the construction of direct, offline action as the pinnacle of ‘real’ activism versus online ‘slacktivism’. The final section of this chapter interrogates this artificial dichotomy and reveals the enabling features of online activism, as well as the ways in which both forms of activism interact, rather than conflict.

The Affective, the Normative and the Everyday: Exploring What Motivates and Sustains Anti-Austerity Activism

This chapter explores what motivates and sustains anti-austerity activism within the context of continued austerity. It affirms the centrality of the affective and normative dimensions of political engagement by demonstrating that anti-austerity activism is motivated and sustained by three core elements; emotion, morality and relationship. Individuals are motivated by an emotional response to perceived injustice combined with normative ideals about how society should be and how we should act in relation to others. They utilise notions of humanity and empathy to combat the dehumanising effect of neoliberal capitalism and its focus on individualism and competition. Participants translate such abstract, universal concepts into concrete, particular actions through a focus on everyday activism and individual choices. Rather than an outright rejection of individualism, participants seek to redefine it in ways that move away from the dominant neoliberal understanding and towards reconciling the individual with the wider collective and common good. Here, activism is conceptualised as a moral duty. Participants therefore suggest that everyone and anyone can and should do activism, with small acts making a difference. This chapter begins to unpick the ways in which activists resist, subvert and sometimes unwittingly reinforce neoliberal capitalism, as well as questioning the problematic distinction drawn between ‘non-activist’ and ‘activist’.

Subverting/Reinforcing Neoliberal Capitalism: The Complex Ambivalence of Anti-Austerity Activism

This chapter concludes the book by discussing the ambivalence and complexity of anti-austerity activist culture and the difficulty of resisting a force that is as pervasive as neoliberal capitalism, raising questions about how this can be more effectively achieved and asserting the importance of paying attention to the messy reality of social movement activism. It suggests that, moving forwards, there is a need for further in-depth ‘thick description’ of the complex processes of activist cultures that reveal the contradictions, tensions, and advantages of the internal dynamics and how they interact with the wider political context. It reminds us that resistance does not exist within a vacuum and that it is important to consider the multiple facets of political participation, and the implicit power relations that exist, in order to both better understand and change future political intervention. Finally, it considers limitations of the research this book draws on and suggests future directions for research.

Barriers to Doing Activism

This chapter discusses the costs (financial, physical, psychological and emotional) associated with doing activism. While participants speak about activism in terms of the everyday and suggest that it is something anyone can do, they often do not acknowledge the privilege required to do activism. This chapter draws out the tensions present in the notion that everyone can and should do activism by exploring the barriers and exclusions that prevent individuals from participating politically. This includes the reality that those who are hardest hit by austerity often do not have the resources to protest against it. Therefore, while lived experiences of issues are deemed to be a key and authentic motivation for doing activism (a topic that is explored further in Chapter 6), it becomes clear that those who are most affected by austerity are less able to protest against it because of its effects. Despite women being disproportionately affected by austerity, this chapter reveals the continuing and heightening gendered barriers that exist in the specific context of austerity and a local anti-austerity activist culture that privileges questions of class over those of gender. It demonstrates how, in response, women are forming their own feminist resistance to austerity, and explores how this is empowering but problematic because it upholds austerity through the provision of unpaid care in the absence of public services.

The Empirical and Political Context of Anti‑Austerity Activism

This chapter provides an overview of the political context, with a focus on austerity and how this forms part of the wider neoliberal project. The chapter establishes the ways in which austerity is gendered, classed and racialised, themes that will be drawn on throughout the book when exploring resistance to austerity. It moves from setting this wider context to an in-depth description of the specific anti-austerity activist culture that is explored in this book. This involves identifying the key movements and groups in the local context, as well as key features of these movements, such as their positioning as a ‘new’ form of politics that is outside the system and the centrality of social media to political organising in this context.