Is performative activism always bad? A qualitative case study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21739564 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lauren E Duncan (0000-0003-0075-1456, Smith College, corresponding author), Elizabeth Helm (Smith College), Olga Kazarov (Smith College) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1529-7489 • E-ISSN: 1530-2415 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/asap.70016 |
| OpenAlex | W4412040941 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 49 |
Although performative activism is often disparaged as actions meant to increase the participant's social status rather than make real social change, not much is known about what defines it, and who, why, and where people participate in performative activism, and indeed, if it is a bad thing. The current study examined these questions in a qualitative case study of thirty students on a small residential college campus. We looked at how students understood performative activism in terms of identity (in‐group vs. ally), site (offline vs. online), and motivation (ideological vs. peer‐ or self‐focused). We found that students almost universally reported having participated in performative activism in the past, both offline and online, for causes related and unrelated to their social identities, and had multiple motives for participating. It was rare for a student to report completely peer‐ or self‐focused motivations for participating. We conclude that performative activism, though disparaged, seems to be a normal part of young adult political development
Aesthetics · Art · Performative utterance · Sociology · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |