TY - JOUR
T1 - Becoming an Activist
T2 - Individualisation and a Democratic Contentious Ethos in ‘How to’ Books
AU - Gøtzsche-Astrup, Johan
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The article explores a new aspect of the interplay of individualisation and democracy. I ask how individualisation affects a contentious ethos, a set of ethical relations that contentious actors cultivate towards themselves and others in articulating their idea of the good. I analyse the ethea in the public through ‘how to become an activist’ books. The books instruct individuals in how they should turn inwards and work on themselves to become activists. I delineate three ethea: individuals can work on themselves to discover their passion, connect to an impersonal truth or situate themselves in a structural context. These may undermine collective political projects but can also facilitate deep democratic engagement.
AB - The article explores a new aspect of the interplay of individualisation and democracy. I ask how individualisation affects a contentious ethos, a set of ethical relations that contentious actors cultivate towards themselves and others in articulating their idea of the good. I analyse the ethea in the public through ‘how to become an activist’ books. The books instruct individuals in how they should turn inwards and work on themselves to become activists. I delineate three ethea: individuals can work on themselves to discover their passion, connect to an impersonal truth or situate themselves in a structural context. These may undermine collective political projects but can also facilitate deep democratic engagement.
U2 - 10.1177/0038038522110749
DO - 10.1177/0038038522110749
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0038-0385
VL - 57
SP - 625
EP - 641
JO - Sociology
JF - Sociology
IS - 3
ER -