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Professionalisation and precariousness: perspectives on the sustainability of activism in everyday life

Professionalisation and precariousness: perspectives on the sustainability of activism in everyday life
Professionalisation and precariousness: perspectives on the sustainability of activism in everyday life
Sustainable activism requires both elasticity and rigor, the ability to learn and compromise as well as the willingness to stick to values and convictions. In this article I argue that activism and professionalisation are not necessarily mutually exclusive but that the ability to move from one to another form of activism is important for the sustainability of activism at the individual, organisational and movement levels. Acknowledging the diversity of activism also highlights that activism and everyday life can be intertwined and that family, community and work can in fact motivate and be sites of activism. The shift from one sphere and form of activism to another is important at the individual level in order to prevent burnout. Furthermore such shifts allow for different tactics, a division of labour and coalition building at the organisational and movement levels. I introduce some key figures in social movements who represent different forms of activism and professionalism. They connect different spheres of activism, take on different roles in and provide access to various resources to social movements. These key figures illustrate biographical consequences of activism as well as boundary crossing between different spheres and activities. Finally, I introduce the case study of a women’s cooperative to show how activism and rofessionalism intersect.
activism, burn-out, career, cooperative, feminism, key figures, professionalisation, real utopia, social change organisations, WeiberWirtschaft
2009-2431
29-58
Roth, Silke
cd4e63d8-bd84-45c1-b317-5850d2a362b6
Roth, Silke
cd4e63d8-bd84-45c1-b317-5850d2a362b6

Roth, Silke (2016) Professionalisation and precariousness: perspectives on the sustainability of activism in everyday life. Interface: a Journal for and about Social Movements, 8 (2), 29-58.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Sustainable activism requires both elasticity and rigor, the ability to learn and compromise as well as the willingness to stick to values and convictions. In this article I argue that activism and professionalisation are not necessarily mutually exclusive but that the ability to move from one to another form of activism is important for the sustainability of activism at the individual, organisational and movement levels. Acknowledging the diversity of activism also highlights that activism and everyday life can be intertwined and that family, community and work can in fact motivate and be sites of activism. The shift from one sphere and form of activism to another is important at the individual level in order to prevent burnout. Furthermore such shifts allow for different tactics, a division of labour and coalition building at the organisational and movement levels. I introduce some key figures in social movements who represent different forms of activism and professionalism. They connect different spheres of activism, take on different roles in and provide access to various resources to social movements. These key figures illustrate biographical consequences of activism as well as boundary crossing between different spheres and activities. Finally, I introduce the case study of a women’s cooperative to show how activism and rofessionalism intersect.

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Interface-8-2-Roth.pdf - Version of Record
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 22 October 2016
Published date: 19 December 2016
Keywords: activism, burn-out, career, cooperative, feminism, key figures, professionalisation, real utopia, social change organisations, WeiberWirtschaft
Organisations: Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 404093
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/404093
ISSN: 2009-2431
PURE UUID: eb7770a3-7bb0-47e5-8db6-d832e6311bff
ORCID for Silke Roth: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8760-0505

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 21 Dec 2016 12:22
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:49

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