GEN Z’S ACTIVISM: They say they have no choice: “The extent of the climate crisis, the profound inequalities, the global creep of fascism – they are all existential threats.” (8/8/22) Also: Gen Z takes on the abortion issue.
REVENGE OF THE HEIRS: The money of oil barons behind climate activism. (8/10/22)
REMEMBERING NO. 6: Bill Russell was the quietest activist in sports, leading by winning as a player and coach and refusing to take any BS. (8/12/22) Also: this.
A-A ACTIVISM: New book explores the hidden dimensions of activism by Asian Americans. (7/21/22)
HUMAN RIGHTS IN PERIL: Global advocacy group calls for action on abuses in Russia. (8/2/22)
CULTURE CLASH: Drag queen story hour in South Boston cancelled after Neo-Nazi protest. (8/8/22)
HALF A LOAF: Climate protesters say the new biggest-ever climate action plan is not big enough. (8/10/22)
CORPORATE ACTIVISM IN 2021: A report on challenges to traditional authority and policy in the boardrooms. (8/9/22)
THE LEGACY OF THE VIETNAM ANTIWAR MOVEMENT: Protests “broke the fever of the anticommunist hysteria and weakened the efficacy of the “red scares.” (8/22/22)
FORE! Climate protesters fill golf holes with concrete to protest their special privileges over water use. (8/14/22)
NOLA PRISON PROTEST: In a nonviolent uprising, prisoners take over a prison pod to demand better conditions–then get flushed out. (8/15/22)
A HARBINGER: Protests in the Netherlands over food and other basic goods pose a warning to the West. (7/29/22) Also: protests in Sri Lanka and Ecuador.
TOPS PROTEST: As the store reopens, protests at the site of the Buffalo mass slaughter.(7/16/22)
BILLIE JEAN: The tennis icon looks back. (8/8/22)
SOUNDS WONKY, BUT … Climate crisis requires attention to the “built environment” too. (8/5/22)
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH? Franklin, the Tennessee town that has been rocked by anti-masking protests, considers neW limitations. (6/22/22)
Previously, By Topic
Animal rights
SLAPP NOT THE POINT: California court rules against animal rights activists who illegally entered a racetrack for direct action, holding that anti-SLAPP law does not hold. (7/13/22)
Anti-authoritarianism
AS ENGLAND ROASTS … Activists show that constructive engagement is the perfect prescription for sanity. (7/18/22)
EXTREMISM IN DEFENSE OF THE PLANET IS NO VICE: Pay attention to Extinction Rebellion (XR), Insulate Britain, and Just Stop Oil. They’re the ones confronting the climate crisis. (7/24/22) Also: Where is meaningful climate activism in the U.S.?
HERE COME THE NAZIS: Outside Turning Point USA, swastikas blend in with other alt-white forces. (7/24/22)
SHADES OF J. EDGAR: The FBI targeted Greenpeace and other environmental groups as terrorists in the 1980s and 1990s. (7/20/22)
THE DEVASTATION OF RIGHT-WING ACTIVISM–AND THE BACKLASH: On the Free State Movement in New Hampshire. (7/15/22)
CODE WORDS: Activists in repressive regimes have always used code words to share information and rally people. That’s what’s happening now with pro-choice forces. (7/17/22)
ANTIFA AND THE BIKERS: A confrontation at a bar in Oregon. (7/17/22)
Civil rights
YEP, THAT’S WHY: Texas school board acknowledges firing its principal not for performance issues but because of her activism. (7/17/22)
COP QUITS: Police officer accused of attacking protester in 2020 leaves the force. (7/13/22)
VEGANISM AND THE POLITICS OF RACE: Surprising insights into the movement against the mass-produced non-food. (7/1/22)
Climate Crisis
HEY, JOE! OVER HERE! Climate activists picket the president’s beach home to press him for more aggressive action. (7/23/22)
THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION: The climate crisis needs more than activism. The opinion shapers have a role to play too. (7/18/22)
Community activism
THE CASE FOR SCHOOL CHOICE: A movement that could promote both freedom and equity. (6/20/22)
COME TOGETHER: Local activists, once chary of race, now understand the importance in a wide range of local movements. (7/11/22)
Environment
BOOT CAMPS: Activists against old-growth forest logging undergo training for direct action. (6/22/22)
CRIMINALIZING DISSENT: Water protectors were sentenced to eight years in jail for nonviolent protests against a pipeline that has not received the necessary permits. (7/7/22)
P&G PROTEST: Police arrest activists after demonstration against Proctor and Gamble’s role in deforestation and human rights violations. (6/7/22)
Feminism
THE MOTHER MODE: Women have always led activist movements, even if they are marginalized along the way. (7/13/22)
WHEN EQUALITY ISN’T: Thurgood Marshall countered the argument that men and women are alike, emphasizing instead the need for them to have equal opportunities to control their own lives. (6/25/22)
REQUIEM FOR #METOO? Have the Heard-Depp trial, the overturning of Roe, and the right-wing authoritarian movement mean the end of the movement? (6/8/22)
Feminism and the Abortion Issue
PRO-LIFE VERSUS LIFE: The anti-abortion movement was never about human rights. It has always been about power–giving it to some, taking it away from others. (7/21/22)
THE POWER OF DIALOGUE: Pro-life activist recalls how conversation altered his views about abortion rights. (7/8/22)
Gun Activism
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Parkland activists pursue a mix of activism, studies, and work. (7/18/22)
PAYBACK: Gun control activists achieve a rare win by following the playbook of the 2A movement. (7/11/22)
ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK: After Congress passes a minor bill on gun “safety,” the Supreme Court turns back state laws. (6/24/22)
Labor
GIGGERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE: Oakland port closed with a protest by anti-gig truckers. (7/20/22)
WORKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE: To face down right-wing authoritarianism, the labor movement needs to play a leading role. (7/13/22)
TRUCKERS PROTEST LABOR STATUTE: Supply chains are vvulnerable as truckers protest against law mandating that workers be classified as employees rather than independent contractors. (7/13/22)
THE OTHER SIDE: How employers view activism in among their workers and their communities.
LGBTQ
TWO-FACED: LGBTQ allies in public, these companies support politicians opposed to equal rights. (6/22/22)
ARE GAYS THE NEXT TARGETS? After Roe’s overturn, renewed efforts to protest gay rights from NYC Pride. (6/28/22)
For more news and analysis of activism, click the categories at the top of the page.
Strategies
GOOD NEWS: Cooperation has actually increased since the 1950s, research shows. (7/18/22)
COME TOGETHER: A new study shows that activism works not by creating a big and powerful organization but by drawing together a number of groups from different causes. (7/19/22)
IN SYNC: Music fosters cooperation by promoting cooperation, social bonds, empathy, and groupthink. No wonder music has always been central to the labor and civil rights movement. (7/21/22)
‘YOU SHOULD BUILD THAT’: Activism is not just about showing up. It requires building something–vehicles to channel resources to confront problems. (7/18/22)
MIKE DAVIS: As the longtime writer and activist nears the end of his life, he reflects on fighting the fight in L.A. and beyond. (7/25/22)
THE LIMITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA: Creating a mass crowd to protest cannot be the be-all of activism. You need to follow up, not just show up. (7/21/22)
IT’S NOT THE MORALITY, STUPID: Human rights campaigns have succeeded because they forced the opposition to accept the least-bad choice from their point of view. Preaching doesn’t work except to apply pressure. (7/21/22)
ORGANIZING VERSUS MOBILIZATION: The critical distinction that determines activism’s toughness and enduring power. (7/18/22)
GO HERE, NOT THERE: Debating the legality of restrictions against protesters outside the homes of public officials. (7/12/22)
INTERSECTIONALITY: Study of 2020 protests find that multiple identities engaged activists in the BLM cause. (7/12/22) More here.
LIMITS OF ‘INFLUENCING’: Politics is about force and leverage, not the soft changing of minds online. (6/29/22)
SPURS TO ACTIVISM: Why gun control activists decided to get involved. (6/29/22) Also: Youth are the last, best hope.
LIMITS TO PROTEST: Supreme Court marshall asks for ban on protests of justices’ homes. (7/2/22) Also: Pushback to restrictions.
HONORABLE DISOBEDIENCE: To make a difference, follow a clear set of standards, says Jonathan Turley. (6/26/22)
THE TWO-PARTY FAILURE: To break the toxic breakdown of democracy, what might a six-party system look like? (6/8/22)
JUST LISTEN: Activists need to pay attention to their cause–at the deepest level–and not just make arguments. That means (don’t laugh) talking to trees. (6/22/22)
ACT LOCALLY: With the imminent overturning of Roe, activists set their sights on state politics after decades of focusing on Washington. (6/22/22)
THE POWER OF FREE SPEECH: Shutting down speech that offends is not the answer. Greater expression of ideas is. (6/17/22)
★ LESSONS FROM THE ANTI-CHOICE MOVEMENT: Gun reform activists need to play the long game and throw the kitchen sink at the issue. Nice rallies and polite lobbying don’t work, says David Mayer. (6/10/22).
Culture
ACTIVISM’S SOUNDTRACK: The 25 most political bands. (7/15/22)
ONLY THE BEGINNING: A cross-country tour finds a wildfire of disinformation and myth-making that points in the direction of civil war. (July/August 2022)
Consequences
HUMAN RIGHTS ALERT: Amnesty International takes action to protect the right to protest across the world. (7/18/22)
★ ACTIVISM IS A BALM: To stay sane in insane circumstances, it helps to stand for right … even at great risk to health and liberty. (5/25/22)
History
HOBBES WAS WRONG: So says Gary Alan Fine about the origins of order. It wasn’t the state, it was the people who created order from chaos. (7/13/22)
Activism Abroad
THE ART OF ACTIVISM: Under the most difficult conditions, Russians find ways to protest the war in Ukraine. (7/7/22)
★ ‘FEMICIDE‘: Women organize in Argentina to fight the systematic attacks on women. (6/4/22)