Thought I'd open the discussion by checking out the Activist Handbook website, but got knee deep in semantics! My cherry pickings include these two:
"For us, activism means collective efforts to create change from the grassroots."
"You don’t have to be an expert to do ‘activism’, and you don’t have to define as an ‘activist’ to create change."
I like the 'collective' idea in the first, but I think you can even be a solo activist - it's just so much more powerful when there's a few of you (and more fun!). That's why I started Eco7 and why I love the idea of Sustainable Newham. Activism to me is recognising when change needs to happen and performing an action which will help lead to that change coming about. This can be as low profile as changing your shopping habits (but imagine if everyone in Forest Gate for example, stopped buying all fruit and veg in unnecessary plastic packaging? Or as high profile as sticking loads of plastic fruit and veg packaging together in a large sheet and covering the window of your local Co-op with it overnight, and getting photos into the media. The group decides what they are comfortable with - preferably after having a nice cup of coffee and a chat with the manager to see if they'll reduce the amount of packing first of course!😁
I think 'activism' has become sadly sullied and implies disruption and aggression. Neither of these things are always necessary to get things done. I think an activist can just be someone who is prepared to do an action which supports a change that needs to happen in whatever way works for them.
What change would you like to see happen to achieve a more sustainable and healthy environment? What are you prepared to do?