Joyful Militancy: A sunny view of activism

Utolsó frissítés csütörtök, 08/02/2024

The active participation of individuals in the processes that shape their communities is undoubtedly crucial for democratic societies. Whether is it through community engagement, volunteering, advocacy or activism, people’s efforts contribute to improving and developing their environment. However, this can often come at a hefty price for those fighting to drive change.

“Joyful militancy” is a concept that challenges the idea that activism has to be this constant burden and proposes instead a framework where joy, creativity and optimism take a central role. By putting these elements in the centre of the movement, it can become more inclusive and attractive to larger audiences. Long-term, joyful militancy can also prove to be more sustainable for activists’ well-being, as it encourages self-care and builds a stronger sense of togetherness. Many people in the movements disagree with the concept of joyful militancy arguing that can take the focus away from the heavy problems that the movement pursues to resolve and claim. Of course, different situations need different approaches and joyful militancy is not a one-size-fits-all solution - but could it be a way to avoid discouragement, specially in the trying times we’re living in?

© stuarthampton /    Protest

Sarah (name changed) and Ainoa are two young people living in Europe and activism plays a crucial role in their lives. Let’s get to know them and how they connect with the concept of Joyful Militancy.

Situated in southern Europe, Ainoa is an activist from Spain who energetically advocates for human rights, focusing primarily on refugee and gender issues.  She works as a project manager on initiatives designed to bring social impact to the forefront in the aforementioned fields. Additionally, for the past three years, she has been an active member of an international organisation as an institutional activist. When queried about what institutional activism entails, she responds: “It is basically a lot of lobbying especially in areas of conflict when human rights are violated the most but it is an everyday struggle. Along with that is organising awareness events and campaigns to reach out to the civic society”.

Upon hearing the term "joyful militancy", Ainoa admits that she is not familiar with it. Nevertheless, as the discussion develops, she becomes intrigued. Having personally experienced backlash as a woman in the LGBTQ+ community who works with refugees, she understands that fighting for the causes you believe in can burden your mental health or be misinterpreted on certain days. As she explains: “People do not really understand what being an activist means and think of us in a certain skeptical way something that makes some efforts harder in communication. However, there is a huge difference in being an activist in the EU than other parts of the world, because activists in the EU are not usually at risk, like for example in the front field of conflict areas. However, it still affects us. European activists work hard as well but it is easier to find and integrate the concept of joyful militancy in their activities like in the pride and in the cultural spectrum, we are lucky in this”.

Ainoa divides her activism actions a two parts: the institutional and professional one, and the everyday activism that happens from discussion to discussion. When we ask her to share her experience on what is an impactful way to reach people for a wider cause, she answers: “Speak out about these issues that matter to you, speak to your circle, speak when you see an injustice and gradually many times you will notice a difference in the understanding of your close ones in many topics. And take care of yourself to continue to do it.”

©geralt / Boy Screams

A little further north in Europe, we have Sarah, a passionate and driven young climate activist, particularly involved with movements such as Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion. However, she often joins other types of movements as well, in solidarity with different groups. Overall, it can mean a lot of time spent organising or participating in marches and protests.

When asked how she manages to keep up with everything and stay motivated, Sarah responds “It's very true that activism is a very draining activity, especially if you're working towards a certain vague goal. It goes so slow and it can be very discouraging and demotivating. So, I think for me, one of the things that really helps is the community. That's why it's fun to do it, the people.” She adds that it is very important to be part of a group that prioritises your well-being because it can help a lot to be taken care of in a larger setting. “For example, Extinction Rebellion have psychologists. Also, a lot of the work they do can subject you to police violence and that can be very scary, too, which is why they want you to be informed. There's transparency, but there are also resources like psychologists. And also, it's very important for them to debrief at the end. So you talk about what you feel, what you experience so that you don't take anything home. They also have recharging or community activities, organised only for the purpose of having fun and learning things.”

From here, the conversation steers naturally toward the idea of Joyful Militancy. Sarah admits that she is a little bit familiar with the term. She thinks it could be “one of the most or the most sustainable way of doing activism. Sustainable in the sense that people will want to keep coming.” She quickly adds “you have to also hold space for other types of activism though, just because sometimes it is not enough, and sometimes your government or whatever you are fighting against, won't take it seriously or will constantly fight back or will need effective, immediate action. But even in those cases, you can combine different strategies.” Her overall conclusion is that it’s important how you decide to get your message across to be effective and that using a mix of different methods and tools can prove to be the most useful way. 
 

_______________

Meet the authors

Amelia-Denisa Zăbavă

My name is Amelia and I’m originally from Romania, though I have been living in Belgium for the past couple of years. I discovered the world of documentary filmmaking in high school and since then, I’ve been exploring new ways and formats to tell stories. As an aspiring journalist, I’m mainly interested in topics related to education, youth engagement, media literacy, arts and culture. In my free time, you can find me at the seaside, strolling around the city taking pictures or at the cinema.

Maro Samara

I am Maro from Greece. I am an incubating physicist and parallelly work in the digital education domain for vulnerable groups and migration. I gained journalistic experience from writing in online student newspapers and pop-culture magazines. I love channelling ideas in several ways and cooperating in multicultural environments to make a sustainable global impact. Reading, debating, arts, languages, volunteering, and sports are places I find comfort and growth at the same time.

This article reflects the views of the authors only. The European Commission cannot be held responsible for it.