The S/pace Social Movements Are In
Tanjin Ashraf, Australian Catholic University
At the time of writing this, Canada is being ravaged by numerous wildfires. The smoke from the fires is blanketing adjacent areas in Canada and the United States. Toronto, where I currently live, was cited to be among the cities with the worst air quality in the world. I took the above photo to capture the unusual and astonishingly hazy skyline. The media mentioned various causes of these wildfires from a long, dry winter to human negligence. Different regions have been pointing fingers at each other and passing along the blame in a perpetual game of Hot Potato. Upon reflection, I realized that regardless of the amount of responsibility humans can rid themselves of for these particular wildfires, we are continuing to exacerbate global warming during the Anthropocene.
I also remembered the wildfires in Australia in 2020 and how I was saddened to hear about the trees, plants, animals, and humans that were impacted by the fires. However, I also realized that it did not feel as “real” for me because the wildfires were not within physical proximity to me. However, with the wildfires in Canada, it seems more “real”, and I feel this sense of responsibility and urgency to address the issue of climate change. While I feel a sense of shame for my seemingly apathetic attitude towards issues that are not within close proximity to me, I believe it is important to be honest and explore the transient nature of social movements.
The JCACS Musers team planned on creating a series reflecting on social movements from the past few years from climate change to the reignited Black Lives Matter movement stemming from George Floyd’s murder, to re-evaluating the calls to action put forth by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. With Canada literally burning, I ended up ruminating on the following questions about combating climate change and other social movements in general:
- What is our role in social issues and movements?
- How does space inform the pace of social movements?
- How do we devote our energy to caring about social issues and taking action?
- How transient is human motivation for caring and taking action on social issues?
Of course, none of these questions have clear cut answers since most social issues are wicked problems that are not meant to be solved by one person with the magic wave of a wand. Complex questions require complex solutions and concomitant commitment. As such, I cannot provide a panacea to these questions and issues. What I can share though are some insights I’ve garnered for myself through my involvement (or lack of) in certain social issues and movements:
- Space determines pace: Human memory is transient by nature, and we seem to have a heightened sense of urgency towards social issues when they feel personal to us (re The Scientist by Coldplay). Part of that personal feeling stems from social and physical proximity. Hence, whenever a social issue is within our social and physical space, we tend to care more. It is important to acknowledge this point in order to understand why certain social movements move at a slower pace than others.
- Pick and choose your battles: As humans, we have a finite amount of physical and mental energy. We cannot devote all our energy into every single issue and movement. Choose a few that you genuinely care about and can contribute to. For example, because I am an education researcher, I advocate for K-12 issues whenever I can.
- Be proactive, not reactive: Once you’ve chosen the issues you want to commit to, research and advocate for solutions that are proactive and not reactive. Going back to my previous example on choosing to commit to education issues, I do critical policy research to understand how education policy is constructed and explore how policies can be proactive in bringing about positive social change.
- Avoid guilt tripping: I’ve noticed a lot of people guilt tripping those who do not partake or are not as involved in social issues and movements. My social media feeds are laden with comments such as “Get off your couch and start caring about climate change” or whatabouteries like “You care about this issue in this country, but about that issue in that country?”. It is understandable that those who are passionate or directly affected by an issue might feel frustrated by apathetic behaviors. However, guilt tripping might lead to some performative change, but it will not foster the genuine passion that is needed to bring forth positive change. Also, we do not know what others are going through and their capacity to engage in social movements; it is important to devote our energies towards being compassionate and not being judgmental.
- Choose who you engage with: Even if we cannot devote ourselves to every single social issue, we can choose who to engage with. Maybe you can befriend someone who works on climate change policies and can keep you updated on their work. Or you can join a team of people who are as passionate about the issue you are working on. Going back to the example I cited before, I went to an education-related protest with a group of friends, and we felt rejuvenated in our solidarity. Also, in relation to my previous point about guilt tripping, surrounding ourselves with compassionate people can propagate our own sense of compassion that we can continue to foster with others.
- Take part in fostering a global community: If there is anything I learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that the world is more seamless than we let on. Humans came up with creative ways to engage with each other including video calls and hybrid conferences. If we continue to foster a global community, then perhaps we’ll be more in-tune with social issues around the world, develop a sense of proximity with those issues, and develop longer lasting passion about them.
- Above all, it is important to take care of yourself. A consistent theme in our Compassion Fatigue series was that we cannot help others if we do not help or accept help for ourselves.
I want to note that the insights I shared are for myself and I do not intend to be preachy. If you disagree or have different takes on my views, then it’s important to share those diverging perspectives as well! It is imperative to keep these discussions going in order to bring about action and change because as I mentioned before, human motivation is transient, and we need to acknowledge the s/pace social movements are in.
