A new activism

“Student activism is dead!” a student yelled out in a class I am taking on social research. His sentiments are echoed frequently. Many feel that the obsession with chasing grades and jobs has created apathy in students.

Even at Columbia, contemporary activism is nowhere near the legendary levels of the 1968 protests. Today’s protests are dignified vigils on Low Steps, with a few exceptions, such as the hunger strike of 2007. Often, these protests appear to be displays of activism for activism’s sake.

But the conclusion that student activism is dead is flawed—rather, one’s definition of “activism” must be re-examined. Activism does not only consist of strikes, protests, and picket lines. It is not only the activities of the 40 or so groups listed as “political/activist” on the Student Development and Activities Web site. Rather, activism is embedded in the dialogue and activities of students all over campus—in classrooms and libraries, in publications and coffeehouses. Students working toward careers in public or international policy, organizing free trade fairs, replacing disposable cups with Blue Java mugs, using cloth bags when shopping for groceries, or writing opinion pieces in publications, are all activists. They may not shout from rooftops or display six-foot banners, but to overlook them when assessing campus activism would be severely misguided and misinformed.

Contemporary student activism has been transformed by information technology and social media, which have exponentially expanded the number and diversity of available forums. They have created a generation of “thought leaders” by granting velocity and visibility to ideas and thoughts that would otherwise have remained in the pages of academic papers or personal journals. Blogs, online discussion forums, online journals and magazines, Facebook, and Twitter all represent the new generation of platforms for activist expression.

The promise of being heard in turn stimulates the production of student ideas and encourages student creativity and dialogue when thinking up solutions to contemporary challenges. The mushrooming of undergraduate student journals on campuses across the country and the popularity of organizations such as the Roosevelt Institution, a student policy think tank based in Washington, D.C., reflect this. Students are in a unique position of influence because of their lack of official affiliation and institutional biases. They not only benefit from the relative objectivity of the academic perspective, but are also free from many of the administrative or bureaucratic constraints that professors and university or think tank scholars face. They do not have to worry yet about jeopardizing their prospects for tenure, or about fulfilling grant requirements, or about producing content that will attract financial support from grant foundations. They face a less bureaucratic, suffocating, and prolonged process for publication in peer-reviewed journals—where many professors wait over a year for their papers to be published in established academic journals, the turnaround time is a semester on average for undergraduate journals. Their ideas therefore have far more potential for velocity and volume, and their capacity to bring about real change becomes all the more amplified.

Activism takes other, even more subtle forms as well. Just through their daily consumer choices, students can engage in silent but powerful activism. Nomi Network, a nonprofit organization based in New York City, sells bags made by women in Cambodia on the Lerner Hall ramps every Thursday. DeltaGDP hosts fair trade fairs to raise awareness of and money for fair trade products and companies. Starbucks and Blue Java sell organically grown fair trade coffee. For student wallets, these are consumption choices that come at a premium, since “organic” and “fair trade” are often trendy excuses for price inflation­—even beyond “fair trade” levels. However, the consumer becomes activist when he or she makes these choices in an informed way. As I discussed at great length in my previous column, competition for “green business” ideas serves to stimulate the production and implementation of student solutions to pressing economic challenges. When massive corporations such as Walmart take on green business and fair trade initiatives, the impact is far greater than that of the loudest demonstrations or signed petitions.

Student activism is very much alive and kicking. You just have to look a little further than banners on Low Plaza or tents pitched on South Lawn. It is there in classrooms, in libraries, on the pages of campus publications, and in student dialogue. It need not take the form of pre-planned and organized activity—it can be embedded in one’s daily life in subtle yet powerful ways. Anyone can be an activist—you do not need a loud voice, an overtly radical demeanor, or a bandana. All you need is a change in perspective—a redrawing of the lines of where activism lies.

Monica Varman is a Columbia College junior majoring in economics-mathematics and concentrating in sustainable development. She is a senior editor of Consilience and works on the Millennium Village project. Green Piece runs alternate Tuesdays. opinion@columbiaspectator.com