Discussion Primer: Performative Activism
This week, Political Union is doing something slightly different. If you’ve been with us since the fall of 2021 or even the fall of 2020, you’ll remember that we occasionally do “discussions” or “dialogues” in lieu of our regular debates. In our discussions, we still have a resolution on the table, but we don’t have pro and con speakers. Instead, we pose a series of questions on a particular topic, and we see where the conversation goes. This week, the topic is performative activism, and whether it provides net benefits to society.
Most definitions of performative activism can be whittled down to this: “supporting a cause or issue to garner attention, support or monetization from others rather than actually caring about making a difference in the cause” is the gist of performative activism. This leaves the door open to positive consequences stemming from performative activism, but the authenticity of the individual’s intentions isn’t there. Any behavior can be performative as long as it’s done to increase the social desirability of the actor.
Other definitions, in case you’re interested, often refer to social capital as an umbrella term for the external benefits that this kind of activism can bring. They’ll also note that performative activism might be more commonly referred to as “slacktivism” - although this is tricky, too, because that is generally a broader term which refers to any kind of low-effort, but perhaps well-intentioned behavior. Usually slacktivism and performative activism overlap, but not always.
A instance of performative activism in recent memory was “#BlackoutTuesday” in June 2020, a week after the murder of George Floyd. Hundreds of thousands of Instagram users posted black square images along with various activism-related hashtags as symbols of their solidarity with anti-police protesters. Critics quickly indicated that the posts were overtaking useful infographics and substantive activist material on social media, making it more difficult for organizers and educators to do their jobs.
You’ll probably recognize other examples too: when corporations rebrand their merchandise and marketing materials at various times of year to conform to Pride Month, Black History Month, or various other social justice occasions, they are accused of engaging in performative activism. David Gelles’s op-ed in the Times from June 6, 2020 presents a thorough summary of the anti-corporate arguments on this subject; most forcefully, he argues that corporations have painstakingly crafted attractive public statements while discriminating against their own minority employees and expressing ambivalence to social justice-related policy initiatives in Washington. But there is the occasional rejoinder - some commentators see value in corporate engagement in the social justice sphere, especially because of the close connection between corporate will and public policy outcomes.
Our co-presidents came up with the two guiding questions for our discussion on Monday night. First, why do people engage in performative activism? And second, are there any harms to performative activism?
We hope you’ll join us Monday night at 1902 Sheridan Road!
"Internet Explorer symbol" by Christiaan Colen is marked with CC BY-SA 2.0.
