by Thomas Sneha Sharon
Activism has been a cornerstone of civilisation from the beginning of time. It is born of the intrinsic human desire to create change for the perceived better when communities of people deem their current social, political, economic, and/or environmental conditions to be unsatisfactory. Campaigning for a revamp of the status quo allows civilians to engage in a tug-of-war with their authority figures over state activities and structures that they believe are to their detriment; to reclaim their power and assert influence over the happenings of the state.
Now, picture how the physical manifestation of activism typically looks like. For most, the images of throngs of people closely packed together, holding signs and shouting a rallying cry come to mind. But how does this play out in the Covid-19 era, where over a hundred countries have been or currently are in lockdown and avoiding crowds has become the norm?
Paradoxically, socially-distant 2020 has become a defining year for activism. Global protests for racial justice stemming from the American George Floyd protests, International Women’s Day protests and the Belarusian protests are but a few of the defining social movements of this year. An explanation for the rise in the number and scale of such protests is that Covid-19 is a historic ‘trigger event’. It has led to widespread confusion and chaos as communities and countries struggle to navigate today’s especially uncertain landscape. However, having to uproot entire ways of living has also made people more aware and intolerant of harmful and/or ineffective state structures and activities. This drives them to seek change more so today than during relatively stable times.
Many key protests today, like global movements against racial injustice, still have the physical gatherings of people as a key tenet of their campaigns. However, the pandemic has certainly imposed limitations on this traditional aspect of galvanising social change. Israeli opposition protestors maintained a distance of six feet from one another as they took to the streets and Poland’s women’s rights activists “marched” as they stayed in their vehicles. As the risk posed by Covid-19 to public health continues to linger and the number of coronavirus cases globally continue to surge, social movements have had to shift away from pursuing traditional street protests as a campaign strategy.
As a result, online activism has seen a considerable rise in participation, as protestors gather virtually to circumvent the physical limitations of their campaigns. For example, Hong Kong activists have spread pro-democracy messaging through the online “Animal Crossing” game. They have also conducted virtual rallies with music broadcasts to thousands of viewers, a significant number of whom are international participants. The emergence of racial justice protests globally has also been attributed to American social media activists and ordinary civilians flooding social media timelines with background context and information about the George Floyd protests. Without the pervasive online activism that took place following the death of George Floyd, it is safe to say that the global conversation and protests surrounding racial injustice would not have gained as much traction.
While online activism has been a crucial part of social movements since the 2010s, they have become much more pivotal to the impact of activist campaigns due to the physical limitations Covid-19 has imposed on the world. As the coronavirus persists, online activism will continue to serve as a bridge for us to communicate with each other our ideas for change as we attempt to emerge from this crisis and seize this opportunity to create a better world. Humankind may have become physically disconnected from one another but our dreams for a brighter future transcend geographical boundaries and unite us in spirit.
References:
https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/04/amid-coronavirus-online-activism-confronts-digital-authoritarianism
https://theconversation.com/global/topics/social-movements-34148
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52103747
The Watercooler 
Hey Sneha, thank you for your interesting sharing!
Indeed, it is ironic that one of the biggest protest we have seen in years happened in the midst of COVID-19. While I am not knowledgeable enough to comment on the other protest, the “Black Lives Matter” protest in America happened as a pent-up unhappiness from a community that has felt unjust treatment for the longest time, from a country that they called home.
While I agree that the unease caused by the COVID-19 pandemic probably caused some unrest among the citizens, I believe that another driving cause of this unhappiness could also be due to the fact that the community felt betrayed that they were unjustly treated by the very people, who should be protecting them from the unjust. I could only imagine how fear-inducing that could be, to watch your fellow countrymen be violently treated by the police. This could be perhaps why, more than simply the African-Americans, many people of different races united together for this cause.
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts Sneha.
I agree with you that activism has and always be an integral part of society. No doubt that covid-19 has restricted the mobility of public but I feel it has contributed a little to change the traditional way of street protests. We have seen various protests and mayhem in the United states during covid-19 despite being warned by health professionals every now and then. Even in Europe, hundreds of demonstrators could be seen on roads protesting against coronavirus restrictions. Nonetheless, activism is evolving. Social media has become a powerful medium for raising voices collectively. It has enlarged the participation of people in activist activities and increased the scope of reach.
So in conclusion, I feel traditional way of street protests has not faded during covid-19 rather a parallel medium has evolved which has increased the purview of participation of people and both the ways co-exist with each other.
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Hi Sneha,
Thank you for writing this article. I believe that it is especially true that due to the current pandemic, activism has transitioned into the online platform. I guess having a virtual space allows for freer movements of various school of thoughts, and people are free to share their opinions while also receiving contrasting beliefs. Personally, I am grateful for this as pressing issues such as police brutality in the States have become so pervasive and widespread that even we, in Asia, are aware and even discussing about the topic. I especially like the last sentence, where though the regulations of being socially distanced are at hand, humans are able to stay interconnected through the virtual space and gain traction not just within the country itself, but around the entire world!
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