What really influences the level of activism?

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5.4 What really influences the level of activism?

This present research set out, in the beginning, to try to find out whether a person’s action online will stimulate his activism in the real life, especially through reinforced political knowledge and efficacy. The survey result did indicate that action on Causes and conventional activism are highly correlated. This is especially true if we pay particular attention to the social networking activities on Causes. However, based on the interviews, action online may be correlated with activism in the real life even though there may not be a causal relationship between them. For most activists, activism is essentially a way of political expression. Whether it is online or offline doesn’t seem to make fundamental differences. For some, online activism is merely an extension of the real life activism; for others, it is vice versa.

As a result, the relationship between these two forms of activism is more complementary than causal. Besides political action online, there seem to be other factors that determine a person’s level of real life activism especially in terms of Prop 8 issues and events. Some factors that have emerged in the survey as well as interviews include a person’s personal identity, his or her affiliation with an organization, and finally his or her ties with other activists.

5.4.1 Personal identity

To begin with, personal identity revolves around many spheres of a person’s life.

For example, a person’s ethnicity in certain contexts, such as that as a minority, usually has a significant link to his or her level of activism. This is illustrated with one of the interviewees in this study. Mr. B is a Native American. According to him, his people, including his ancestors, his grandparents, his parents, and even himself have long suffered from repression to various degrees and in different domains in the American society. He believes that it is this status of minority and repression that

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made him politically active. He has double minority statuses. He is a Native American, and at the same time he is also a gay man. This intersectionality of minority statuses is an even more powerful predictor of activism.

Intersectionality is a concept that has been applied in the discussion of both practical and scholarly work on equality in recent years. The term “intersectionality”

was first defined by Kimberle Williams Crenshaw to explain the various ways in which race and gender interact to create multiple inequalities in Black women’s employment experiences (Mendez, 2007). According to Crenshaw, intersectionality can be distinguished between structural and political (Verloo, 2006). Structural intersectionality occurs when inequalities and their intersections are directly relevant to the experiences of people in society (Verloo, 2006). Verloo (2006) gave an example of how a black woman is not considered for one job because she is black since a

‘normal’ employee is a white woman, while other jobs are also unavailable to her since the jobs available to black persons are predominantly male jobs. Political intersectionality, on the other hand, occurs when inequalities and their intersections are relevant to political strategies (Verloo, 2006). One example is that the unavailability of statistics on domestic violence police interventions could provide information on arrests differentiated by race because of the fear of the reinforcement of racial stereotypes (Verloo, 2006). The review of this concept of intersectionality is valuable to this study or the extension of this study because identity plays a major role in one’s level of activism. With individuals such as Mr. B and Mr. E now living with multiple minority statues, it is important to see how this plays into the discussion of political participation.

The discussion of identity is important because it has a close link to political participation. According to Diani and della Porta (2006), feelings of belonging, namely one’s identity, is constantly reinforced or weakened through political action. But in

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this study, it can clearly be seen that this relationship can be reversed as well, as a person’s level of political involvement is deeply influenced by his or her identity. As mentioned by Diani and della Porta (2006), reference to identity is significant in order to understand the mechanisms underlying an individual’s decisions to get involved in collective action. The concept of identity was also brought up by Mr. A, who considers himself to have always been politically active. It is worthwhile to tap into the link between a person’s minority status as well as his level of activism in the future.

5.4.2 Personal ties, organizational affiliations and political participation

Aside from personal identity, ties are also a very important factor, both in terms of organizational affiliations and interpersonal ties. McAdam and Paulsen mentioned several times in their study (1993) that both organizational and personal ties are significant predictors for individual activism. First of all, strong or dense interpersonal networks not only encourage participation but also ease the uncertainty of mobilization (McAdam & Paulsen, 1993). Furthermore, participants with more organizational memberships have a stronger sense of efficacy, which is a good predictor for collective action (McAdam & Paulsen, 1993). These ties and affiliations also appeared in the interviews constantly as a purpose or reason for participation and recruitment. For example, Mr. C is a member of a religious group, the Unitarian Universalist Church, which supports the repealing of Proposition 8 (as reviewed in one of the previous chapters). Professionally, he is an attorney, and he has filed several cases for his church regarding Proposition 8. This shows how his affiliation with an organization, in this case a religious group, influences his level of activism. A lot of time, affiliation with an organization may produce social ties with those that are either already politically involved or those that are newly active. These social ties

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then work as reinforcement to an individual’s own level of activism. Mr. A is a good example. He became a member of an activist organization, Join the Impact. Through his membership, he has established a network of connections with other activists, which in turn enhances his participation in Prop 8 related events.

Even though interpersonal ties and organizational affiliations have been significant in determining the level of a person’s level of involvement, a researcher can never be too cautious about the nature of ties in question. According to McAdam and Paulsen (1993), most researchers have failed to take into account various dimensions of social ties. This is important as social ties may both encourage and constrain activism. It is, therefore, important for researchers to acknowledge the fact that each person’s life is characterized with “multiple embeddings” (McAdam &

Paulsen, 1993). Even though based on the interviewees’ experiences, there is a strong connection between the amount of support gained from the immediate family, and the level of activism, scholars should be cautious to make conclusions regarding strong ties and activism. Take Mr. E for example. His family supports him, but there is an undeniable strong force of religion pulling the support in a different direction as well. This will be an interesting aspect for future research.