The Return of Activism

I first became politically active when I was 18. Back then, we sat in a basement in Högdalen discussing politics. Occasionally, we would go out to protest or hand out flyers outside the Högdalen subway station. In terms of a demonstration, we weren't many, but in terms of how many people could fit in a basement, we were a crowd - and new members joined almost every week.

This was 2008, just before social media truly broke through. What we saw in the years that followed was a sharp decline in membership and engagement from existing members. Meanwhile, politics and social issues were being discussed more than ever online. Political debate dominated Twitter and Facebook, and I clearly remember when the founders of Rummet launched their website and coined the term "racialized." The political conversation was thriving, but political activism was almost dead. A status update about the Arab Spring or the upcoming election was enough to appear socially engaged. "Slacktivists," we called them contemptuously.

So, when Greta Thunberg sat down outside the Parliament and declared a school strike for the climate that Friday in August, she suddenly breathed new life into political activism as well. Today, young people all over the world are striking for the climate, and Greta is invited to speak at forums where the world's most powerful gather to discuss global social issues. Similarly, the Parkland survivors breathed life into the gun control debate when, just hours after the shooting, they decided to campaign for stricter gun laws. The campaign gained massive momentum in the US and culminated in nationwide demonstrations.

But as Johan Hilton at Dagens Nyheter so aptly points out, the comment sections for these young activists are a disgrace to the adult world. The Parkland activists were hounded by a nasty tail of far-right trolls, and Greta Thunberg along with other young climate activists are constantly discredited. In Belgium, the Environment Minister even had to resign after spreading rumors that the Belgian students' activism was part of a larger conspiracy.

The idea that young people only live through their screens and never actually do anything might have been true for a very brief moment. But it is no understatement to say that Greta Thunberg has reawakened a sleeping movement. It’s time for the rest of us, the adult "slacktivists", to step up and engage as much in social issues as these young people are doing.

Amne Ali, PR Consultant