How to Be A Good Armchair Activist

Image Credits: Fotokannan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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I do not see armchair activism as a pejorative. It can be a valuable form of activism.

I am not talking about those who are continuously re-sharing content from here and there, repeating the same point on how we need a “revolution”. Talking about things without being personally invested in it is not activism. It is noise.

To do activism, even the armchair variety, one has to be invested in a problem (or a few problems). And when you’re invested in a problem, the ways to move forward come to you automatically.

Develop a theory of change

Build a deep, granular vision of the change you want. Identify details.

Useful level of detail	Useless level of detail
I need a society where accumulation of capital is prevented and there is a fairer distribution of wealth. I need that there be universal basic income, free healthcare, free education. I need that there be labor rights and minimum wages and high taxes on the rich.	I need a communist society (WTF is that?)

Then use right-to-left thinking to identify what needs to change to allow your vision of change to happen, and what needs to change to allow that change to occur, and so on.

At one point, you’ll reach at steps that you can do right now (from your armchair). You can stop there.

The series of steps that you’ve now outlined is a “theory of change”.

Focus on moving forward

Stasis is not change. Stasis is status quo.

If you keep repeating yourself, you’re not moving forward, and nobody else is moving forward.

Keep doing the next steps. Don’t get stuck in “awareness creation”. People are aware. They just need the next steps.

That might be hard to digest. If people are aware, why are they acting like they are unaware? Because nobody is demanding them to do the next step.

Real awareness comes only when going to the next step. It’s when you ask people to adopt an “anti-caste policy” for an organization that people will start thinking about where caste is practiced in their organization. Till then the discussions will be abstract and non-serious. It’s when people are asked to take the next step that they really think about the previous step.

Take control away from the powerful

How do the elite maintain their control on the society? Through attention.

They decide what you give attention to. And what you give attention to is where all the action will be.

They hook into your desires and your fears to catch your attention. They keep you occupied. They never let you think on your own.

Many who want to be armchair activists aren’t able to break out of this control. And in turn they become amplifiers of the wrong propaganda.

Take control back.

Fight the algorithm.

Choose accounts and people who are doing the work that needs to be done. Follow them. Turn on notifications for them. Subscribe to their newsletters and WhatsApp channels and RSS feeds. Get everything from them. And keep sharing that content. Give them visibility and reach. Don’t let them drown out in noise.

Think of yourself as archivists

There’s plenty of work that can be done from the armchair. But perhaps the most important is that of an archivist.

Can you document things that are happening?

Can you preserve memories?

Collect things consistently and categorize them. Bam! You’re an archivist.

You don’t need a lot of technology. A blog on WordPress/Ghost/Blogger/Substack will do. Or even Google Docs.

Think of yourself as theorists

When your non-armchair counterparts are busy navigating the daily struggles of activism, they might not have the time to read. Can you read? Can you read theory?

The right theory at the right time is incredibly useful in activism.

Can you take a tough problem being faced by the movement you’re in, read theory, apply theory, come up with a way to think better, and share it with everyone in abstract terms?

For example, I recently quit Prav, because I felt like there was too much time being wasted. There had to be better ways of organizing. Anarchist organizing theories would have been valuable. But nobody had the time or patience to go through the literature, find the right theory, and share it with everyone.

Can you liberate with theory?

Think of yourself as researchers

Can you unearth data?

Can you track things down in a spreadsheet and do simple analysis?

Can you talk to people and find answer to questions like “Why?”, “What?”, “How?”?

Think of yourself as communicators

Can you make posters? Cartoons? What about short videos?

Can you write things in ways that people can read without getting intimidated?

Can you communicate relevant news, relevant issues, and relevant action items crisply so that more people get the message?

Can you take away some of the coordination overhead from other activists?

Think of yourself as an activist

I think the danger is that those who get called “armchair activists” actually like the pejorative meaning of it. They are intentionally restricting themselves to comfort zones. They don’t think of themselves as activist.

Don’t be that person.

Think of yourself as an activist. And work like one.

There are numerous ways to make yourself useful to the movement. Only if you care.