From Thought to Deed: Understanding Abortion Activism1

Many people have opinions on abortion, but relatively few contribute a substantial amount of time and effort to actively support their causes. This study investigated factors associated with level of activism in the abortion movement. The issue was addressed from a cost‐benefit framework based on theory and research from other social movements. In a sample drawn from pro‐life and pro‐choice organizations, activism was related to attitude salience, attitude polarization, social ties to abortion activists, and agentic self‐esteem. Potential constraint variables (e.g., employment) and social approval from important others showed little relation to activism. Factors affecting activism were similar for pro‐choice and pro‐life activists. Findings were generally consistent with studies of political activism for other social causes.     

“I was mad about it all,about the ban”: Emotional spaces of solidarity in the Poznan March of Equality

In this paper, I focus on the spatial and emotional constitution of protest in the context of gay and lesbian public activism in Poland, on the basis of a case study of the Poznan March of Equality. The event took place on 19 November 2005, despite an earlier ban issued by the mayor of the city, following the recent rise of right-wing parties in power. The brutal break-up of the peaceful demonstration by the police sparked a discussion on broader issues of freedom of assembly and the state of Polish democracy. Through the narratives of March organizers, I look at the ways in which the activists engaged in the practices of collective memory work and emotion work, focusing specifically on anger, fear and euphoria. I call for discussion of emotions of public protest in the context of sexual citizenship as well as argue that it is necessary to examine the space-time scale of these emotions. In particular, I look at the ways in which the spatial and emotional context of collective memory work enabled the activists to inscribe the event into the narrative of Polish 1980s Solidarity activism and sustain activism despite an unfavourable political context.     

Some Benefits of Being an Activist: Measuring Activism and Its Role in Psychological Well-Being

Do activists lead happier and more fulfilled lives than the average person? Two online surveys using a sample of college students (N = 341) and a national sample of activists matched with a control group (N = 718) demonstrated that several indicators of activism were positively associated with measures of hedonic, eudaimonic, and social well‐being. Furthermore, in both studies, activists were more likely to be “flourishing” ( Keyes, 2002 ) than were nonactivists. A third study of college students (N = 296) explored the possible causal role of activism by measuring well‐being after subjects either engaged in a brief activist behavior, a brief nonactivist behavior, or no behavior. Although well‐being did not differ substantially between these three groups, the subjects who did the brief activist behavior reported significantly higher levels of subjective vitality than did the subjects who engaged in the nonactivist behavior. Potential mediators of the relationship between activism and well‐being and the usefulness of these findings are discussed.     

Protest Against Waste Contamination in the ‘Land of Fires’: Psychological Antecedents for Activists and Non‐activists

The ‘Land of Fires’ is a district in Italy characterized by illegal waste disposal, waste burning, and citizen protests over contamination. This study investigates the relevance of several psycho‐social factors that predict citizens' intention to protest, taking into account different research traditions. In addition, we hypothesize the effect of protest antecedents to be moderated by past participation behaviour (i.e. the level of activism). Hence, our study is a first attempt to explore the effect of protest antecedents as a function of the individual level of activism through a cross‐sectional survey study (N = 306). The results show significant effects of collective identity, sense of injustice, costs of protest, and perceived risk (cognitive dimension) on intention to protest. The effects of collective efficacy and perceived risk (affective dimension) are moderated by participants' level of activism, and these effects are significant only for non‐activists. The relevance of this new approach is discussed, as well as practical implications and possible further developments. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Arab and Jewish elementary school students' perceptions of fear and school violence: Understanding the influence of school context

This inquiry explores variables that predict elementary school stsudents' fear of attending school due to school violence and their overall judgments of school violence as a problem. Using a nationally representative sample (Israel) of 5,472 elementary‐school‐aged children, this study tested the hypotheses that: (a) young students' personal fear of attending school due to violence, and (b) students' assessment of a school violence problem, are best understood as separate conceptual constructs. Structural equation modelling was used to test the proposed theoretical model for the sample as a whole and separately for across gender and for Arab and Jewish students. Student fear of attending school due to violence was related directly to experiences of personal victimization on school grounds by students and teachers. Children's judgments of their schools' overall violence problem were influenced directly by the school climate, risky peer‐group behaviours, and personal victimization. The findings provide evidence that the proposed theoretical model applies across gender groups and for both Arab and Jewish students. Implications for policy, theory, and future research are highlighted.     

The Motivating Role of Perceived Right Violation and Efficacy Beliefs in Identification with the Italian Water Movement

Because individuals' fundamental right to water is often taken for granted, little is known about why individuals participate in water activism. We examine how individuals identify with and intend to participate in the Italian Water Movement to defend the “public management” of water supply. Building on the collective‐action literature, we test an explanatory model in which the perceived violation of the right to water and group and participative‐efficacy beliefs increase movement identification, which predicts subsequent activism. Study 1 (N = 153 activists) largely confirmed our hypotheses: right violation and participative efficacy uniquely influenced movement identification, which in turn predicted activism. Study 2 corroborated these findings by employing a broader sample of 132 Italian citizens, with right violation, participative and group‐efficacy beliefs predicting movement identification, which in turn predicted activism. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

When global problems come home: Engagement with climate change within the intersecting affective spaces of parenting and activism

Emotional engagement with climate change has been identified as an important research agenda. Recent studies have suggested parental worry for children and future generations are motives for climate activism, highlighting both personal and social justice concerns. A global parent-led climate justice movement specifically articulating this has emerged, yet currently remains under-researched. At the same time, social movement research has tended to overlook the social embeddedness of activism. To address these gaps in knowledge, this study used a qualitative mix of diary entries and interviews of UK-based mothers and fathers to investigate the overlapping emotional spaces of climate activism and parenting. It found that a parental lens on climate, informed by dystopian imaginings and processes of responsibilisation amplified fear and risk-related feelings, but were managed by channelling energy into a diverse array of collective action spaces. This led to positive emotions of hope and solidarity which were fostered and circulated within close personal relationships. In addition, the study found times and spaces which put a strain on affective engagement, and on partner relationships. The paper discusses the lack of moral anger in this sample of climate activists compared to previous research, and calls for further enquiry into the movement's development of intergenerational justice grievances.     

Poverty in developing nations: a cross‐cultural attributional analysis

A survey of anti‐poverty activists and non‐activists in Canada and the Philippines was conducted to assess their beliefs about the causes of poverty in developing nations. Principal components analysis revealed that the respondents' poverty attributions could be distinguished along five main dimensions: exploitation, characterological weaknesses of the poor, natural causes, conflict, and poor government. Group breakdowns revealed several significant differences related to respondents' countries of residence and social ideologies. A path analysis suggested that attributions fully mediated the relationship between social ideology and participation in anti‐poverty activism. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conflict,fear and social identity in Nagaland

This survey study tested the effects of exposure to ethnopolitical conflict and violence and social group identification on psychosocial well‐being among a sample of Nagas (n = 280). Nagaland is located in Northeast India, and for decades has suffered from armed conflict and political instability. It was predicted that reported exposure to conflict would be positively associated with reported levels of fear, which in turn would decrease psychosocial well‐being (assessed with the indices life satisfaction, self‐esteem and general health). It was also expected that strongly identifying with being Naga would be positively related to perceived levels of social support, which in turn were predicted to be positively related to well‐being. Last but not least, it was hypothesized that conflict and fear would also directly and negatively impact on levels of identification with being Naga: increased conflict‐induced fear was expected to reduce the strength of the group identification. These predictions were confirmed by structural equation modelling.     

Sikh American millennials at work: Institution building,activism, and a renaissance of cultural expression

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the contributions of Sikh American millennials in institution building, activism, and cultural expression in the post 9/11 period. The discussion is based on interviews and fieldwork conducted by the author. I describe the motivations and concerns of Sikh American millennial activists. I also discuss the digital fluencies they apply in their fight against discrimination and violence. They value innovative leadership, civil rights, gender equality, social justice, and youth programs. I conclude that millennial institution building is shaping the community by expanding civil society engagement, promoting youth leadership, and highlighting social problems within the community like sexism and classism.     

Engaged Against the Machine: Institutional and Cultural Racial Discrimination and Racial Identity as Predictors of Activism Orientation among Black Youth

The current study examines how experiences of institutional and cultural racial discrimination relate to orientations toward activism in the Black community among Black adolescents and emerging adults. Furthermore, we investigate the role of racial identity (centrality, public regard, nationalism) as moderators of those relations. In a national sample of 888 Black adolescents and emerging adults, we found that experiences of cultural racial discrimination, racial centrality, and nationalism ideology were related to a greater orientation toward low‐risk Black community activism. For high‐risk activism, nationalism was associated with a greater likelihood to participate in future social action in the Black community. The relation between experiences of institutional racial discrimination and high‐risk activism orientation was moderated by public regard. For Black adolescents and emerging adults who believe others view Black people negatively, more experiences of institutional racial discrimination were related to a greater high‐risk activism orientation. Findings highlight the importance of investigating racial discrimination as a multidimensional construct that extends beyond individual interactions and microaggressions. Furthermore, these findings underscore how phenomenological variation in experiences of racial discrimination and racial identity differentially influence adolescent and emerging adult orientations toward social action in and for the Black community.     

From apathy to social activism

The study of social change has neglected the dynamics motivating individuals to join mass movements. Particularly obscure is how apathetic people are transformed into social activists. Considering this problem the author suggests three stages of development through which the individual progresses in attaining a higher level of personal and social maturity. The first stage ‐ dreaming ‐emerges when the individual aspires to change while wishing to avoid the risks involved. The second ‐ the illusion of power ‐ occurs when the hunger for power and the fear of it are mediated. The third ‐ real power ‐ is promoted by the yearning for self‐respect and social acceptance and is manifested by competence in gaining supremacy and actual experience in struggle. As a consequence of this process the individual advances from a subjective self‐image to perceiving himself as a social being; society is humanized by the greater participation of individuals.     

A GENERATIONAL ANALYSIS OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

This article addresses the important issue of intergenerational similarities and differences among women's rights activists. We examined the attitudes, emotions, and experiences of three generations of reproductive rights activists, born between 1925 and 1975. Across generations, the participants were strongly pro-choice and identified as feminists. Despite these similarities, there were several differences that could be explained by considering the sociohistorical circumstances faced by each cohort. For example, the Civil Rights generation activists came of age during the boycotts and marches of the 1950s and showed the highest level of civil rights activism. Reflecting the coincidence of their young adulthood with the 1970s women's movement, the Protest generation activists identified the most with the label "feminist." Finally, the Poshvomen's movement activists, raised in the 1970s and 198Os, were the most likely to have taken college-level women's studies classes.     

Skills,training, and activism

Most studies of activism and social movements give more attention to methods and strategies than to the development of skills. Yet skills are crucially important to the success of campaigns. Research on expert performance provides insights into what is required to become highly proficient at a well-defined set of skills. These insights are potentially relevant to activists, as shown by the example of training for lunch-counter sit-ins in Nashville, Tennessee in 1960. Skill development needs to be given greater attention by activists and scholars.     

The ironic impact of activists: Negative stereotypes reduce social change influence

Despite recognizing the need for social change in areas such as social equality and environmental protection, individuals often avoid supporting such change. Researchers have previously attempted to understand this resistance to social change by examining individuals' perceptions of social issues and social change. We instead examined the possibility that individuals resist social change because they have negative stereotypes of activists, the agents of social change. Participants had negative stereotypes of activists (feminists and environmentalists), regardless of the domain of activism, viewing them as eccentric and militant. Furthermore, these stereotypes reduced participants' willingness to affiliate with ‘typical’ activists and, ultimately, to adopt the behaviours that these activists promoted. These results indicate that stereotypes and person perception processes more generally play a key role in creating resistance to social change. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Suicidal ideation among adolescents in relation to recalled exposure to violence

The relationship between exposure to violence and vulnerability to suicide among adolescents was examined. The topic was initiated by the rapid increase in adolescent's exposure to violence and the sparse systematic research available on its relationship to attitudes about life and death. The study's main hypothesis is that high levels of exposure to violence are associated with high suicide risk according to two conceptual paradigms-Fear of Death and Attraction and Repulsion to Life. Eighty-five adolescents were administered three self report questionnaires. The questionnaires assessed levels of exposure to violence, fear of death, and attitudes towards life and death. Those who had been exposed to a high level of violence reported attitudes synonymous with the profile of an individual at risk for suicide (low fear of death, low repulsion to death, and low attraction to life; high repulsion to life and high attraction to death).     

Suicidal ideation among adolescents in relation to recalled exposure to violence

The relationship between exposure to violence and vulnerability to suicide among adolescents was examined. The topic was initiated by the rapid increase in adolescent's exposure to violence and the sparse systematic research available on its relationship to attitudes about life and death. The study's main hypothesis is that high levels of exposure to violence are associated with high suicide risk according to two conceptual paradigms-Fear of Death and Attraction and Repulsion to Life. Eighty-five adolescents were administered three self report questionnaires. The questionnaires assessed levels of exposure to violence, fear of death, and attitudes towards life and death. Those who had been exposed to a high level of violence reported attitudes synonymous with the profile of an individual at risk for suicide (low fear of death, low repulsion to death, and low attraction to life; high repulsion to life and high attraction to death).     

How Do I Treat My Hungry Lion: A Model for Violence Management in Prison

This theoretical model for the management of violence relies on the notion that there are fundamentally only two kinds of prison violence—provoked and unprovoked—and that all violence is caused by the influence of some fear-causing agent which triggers the autonomic nervous system's Fight or Flight Response (FFR) which in turn causes the release of FFR chemicals to create and enable an action potential for violence in the actor. Provoked violence is an act of violence which occurs in response to an FFR instigated by some external, independent contemporaneous, real or imagined fear causing agent. Treating provoked violence must include suppressing the production of an excess of FFR stimulant chemicals, which at the same time employing psychodynamic therapy to modify the negative behavior learned from a lifetime of excessive responses to FFR chemical releases. Unprovoked violence is the result of an actor's addiction to FFR chemicals. This addiction leads the actor to experience an apperceptive compulsion to engage in thrill seeking as a method of exposing himself to fear causing agents that are calculated to cause the release of FFR chemicals. In order to treat unprovoked violence you must treat both the chemical addiction and the negative pattern of behavior which was learned to support the habit of self-triggering an FFR. Thus any successful treatment of violence must employ both energetic and psychodynamic models for development of fear management strategies.     

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Understanding How British and Indonesian Extremists Disengage and Why They Don't

This article compares how individuals from two different Salafi-jihadi groups disengage from high-risk activism and political violence. Drawing on original interviews, we explore the “push” and “pull” factors that influence our respondents' decisions to leave. We identify numerous push-and-pull factors that are consistent with previous research, including disagreements with group leaders over strategy and practices and educational and employment opportunities. We also contribute to existing research by including “persistent activists” in our sample who did not disengage. Surprisingly, these respondents remained in their groups despite experiencing some of the same push-and-pull factors as those who left. Including this variation allows us to separate necessary but insufficient conditions of disengagement from factors that exert a more profound impact. We highlight the influence of one key factor—and its absence—in our discussion: alternative social networks with supportive outsiders for those who left and the lack of such meaningful relationships for those who remained. We conclude by discussing the implications of our research for countering violent extremism.     

The Autobiography of an Activist with a Small a

This article explores the dynamic sequence that typifies the attempts of activists. The premise followed is that the dynamics of activism on a large scale and a small scale are similar. The examples used are the author’s history of activism with a small a.