Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. This action is in support of, or opposition to, one side of an often controversial argument.

The word "activism" is often used synonymously with protest or dissent, but activism can stem from any number of political orientations and take a wide range of forms, from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism (such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing preferred businesses), rallies, street marches, strikes, both work stoppages and hunger strikes, or even guerrilla tactics.

In some cases, activism has nothing to do with protest or confrontation. For instance, some activists try to persuade people to change their behavior directly, rather than persuade governments to change laws. The cooperative movement seeks to build new institutions which conform to cooperative principles, and generally does not lobby or protest politically.

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Outreach is an effort by individuals in an organization or group to connect its ideas or practices to the efforts of other organizations, groups, specific audiences or the general public. Unlike marketing, outreach does not inherently revolve around a product or strategies to increase market share. Typically non-profits, civic groups, and churches engage in outreach.

Outreach often takes on an educational component (i.e., the dissemination of ideas), but it is increasingly common for organizations to conceive of their outreach strategy as a two-way street in which outreach is framed as engagement rather than solely dissemination or education.


If you are, be sure to hop over and become a member of #publicoutreach, the brand-new hot spot for all things activism on dA. AND if you're particularly knowledgeable about good ways to be an activist, or any specific activism groups, particularly international activism-based NGOs (like Amnesty International or Greenpeace, for example), or any charitable organizations that are working progressively for ecological, social or political issues - then tell me as much, and I will have you all privved-up for blog posting and the likes!


My birthday just passed, and between dA and facebook I got about 80 happy birthday messages, so forgive me for not replying to them all so far, but I will try my damnedest to get around to it. I had a great night before my birthday - went out with =emothemurdok for espresso and beer - and then did some epic fundraising in a hellhole-ish part of town for Greenpeace on the day of, after which I came home, collapsed into a tub of ice cream, and slept early. :U

Tonight's features come from a mixture of issues I've been bitching about to clients at work, and one suggestion from the lovely ~cestmoi, who is currently on the couch probably RPing or eating ice cream of the rolo persuasion. See if you can pick which is her suggestion. >.>