What is an activist?
Activists are people who seek to create positive change. But not all people who work for change define themselves as activists.
A person who speaks out at their workplace about unsafe practices, or somebody who refuses to buy a tram ticket as a personal protest against privatisation, may not see themselves as activists, yet these actions could be seen as political 'activism'.
It is important to go beyond the stereotypes of activists' that are often deliberately generated to discredit and marginalise people who protest. This site recognises that activism includes the positive and courageous actions of ordinary people in their daily lives.
We have chosen not to use the word 'protestor' for this site as activists generally do a lot more than just protest'.
Activists may be forming radical co-operatives, working within universities and schools to educate others, working through the legal system or government to create institutional changes, maintaining cultural practices and music as an act of resistance, developing national and international networks and forming alliances across movements.
Activists may be students, residents, trade unionists, Aboriginal rights campaigners, environmentalists, lesbian and gay campaigners, peace and social justice workers; they may work in funded non-government organisations (NGOs), in grassroots affinity groups or autonomous networks, in political parties or lobby groups, in local resident associations or in a trade union.
This website will be of value to all activists and is created in the spirit of solidarity and common ground between all people working for a free, just and sustainable society.
Read about the experiences of other activists at Activist case studies.
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