The activism industry is composed of organizations and individuals who make a living from activism, involvement in action to bring about change. The number of organizations who employ people to perform this work is sufficiently large that Activism is now a job classification. Movements across the political spectrum can be described as activist in nature.
Many organizations whose primary activity is activism may be defined as being nonprofit organizations. Some are non-governmental organizations. Most activist organisations do no manufacturing of goods.
The term "activism industry" has been used to refer to the practice of outsourcing canvassing fundraising operations; however, activist organizations engage in other activities as well.[1] The specific activist tactic of influencing decisions made by government is called lobbying. Many groups have staff assigned to do lobbying. In the United States, lobbying is regulated by the federal government.[2]
Contents |
In capitalist societies, when civil liberties are present, full-time activists are employed on wages.[3][4] Volunteer activists may support themselves by working full-time or part-time. Most governments encourage public support of non-profit organisations by granting some form of tax relief for donations to charitable organizations, sometimes including donations of time as well as money. Governments usually attempt to deny these benefits to activists by restricting the political activity of tax-exempt organisations. This can be controversial, because the borderline between political activity and educational or religious activity is not always clear.
Free societies rarely have explicit restrictions on political activism, although many forms of activism involve committing other crimes such as aggravated trespass.
Powerful organisations, such as government bureaucracies and large corporations, often organize activism to promote their own interests, and sometimes coerce their employees and others to participate. However, where civil liberties exist, the penalty for failing to comply with forced activism is often unemployment, rather than imprisonment for political crimes, as is often the case in contemporary societies lacking in civil liberties. A number of techniques are commonly used:
Restrictions by governments can create what are state-controlled activism industries (just as some states control other industries), grant monopolies to organizations, or divert government resources to influence change.