'Vegan' isn't in the MS Word dictionary...

I believe that the idea of activism has flaws. As many people understand it, activism can be done as one activity alongside several others- a subset of someone’s life. Typically, activism orients towards some form of social legislation (not in a juridical sense necessarily but rather in a sense of trying to create a uniformity of practice in other people through whatever means), aligning the activist as the subject, and the general population of people as the object of change. Rather, I believe activism shouldn’t exist, and that potential for social change should source from personal practice, and willingness to integrate change as a mode of living- an enactment or performance of change. For example, veganism: I find the treatment and slaughter of animals for food or clothing unethical, and so I abstain from using animal products in any way. Instead of protesting for social change through leafleting, wandering around naked a la PETA, I would prefer to enact the changes I would like to see. There are three benefits.

First, as a question of effectiveness, this mode of politics works best. By enacting the types of changes you find necessary, it removes questions of hypocrisy, and makes the values associated with any political act more salient. This does not mean an abdication of the public space: enactment of change can contest unethical or violent practices, particularly if they concern the constitution of the social body- i.e. gender norms. In a military metaphor, it’s the use of low-level guerilla warfare versus an overt military conflict.

Second, it avoids questions of viability or organized opposition. Enactment of social change can become autonomously organized through the very change itself: friends of mine established a weekly vegan-cooking group to expose themselves to good food and support the practice of veganism. By enacting change, questions of viability resolve themselves, which avoids contention over feasibility: “I could never be vegan because…”

Third, it alters the scale under which social change occurs. By orienting struggle for change in your person, that change directly impacts the relationships you enter into, and avoids the ‘legislative’ activities described above. Overt and large-scale change diverts energy into navigating legislative forums of the media and government, which, as means for change also end up altering the ends. Legislation in government requires sacrifices to other interests, which may not otherwise be in a location to impact a struggle. Global change also be unnecessary if local spaces autonomously organize anyways.