On Being an Activist

Toward an Activist Political Theory

An Activist Model of Democracy

The focus of this paper is that actual political systems do not appear to satisfy the property of convergence to an electoral center that is often predicted by formal vote models. The key theoretical idea is that the convergence result need not hold if there is an asymmetry in the electoral perception of the “quality” of party leaders (Stokes 1992). The average weight given to the perceived qua...

‘I’m not an activist, though I’ve done a lot of it’: Doing Activism, Being Activist and the ‘Perfect Standard’ in a Contemporary Movement

This paper, based on in-depth interviews with thirty-three individuals involved in the burgeoning Menstrual Activism movement, explores why the identity ‘activist’ is resisted among some social movement actors. Drawing on a ‘perfect standard’ of politics and activism grounded in the core values of rigor and humility, an activist must ‘live the issue’, demonstrate relentless dedication, and cont...

Queerying borders: an Afrikan activist perspective.

This article offers an overview of academic work that focuses on queer sexualities in Africa and argues that binary categories, particularly those imported from outside Africa, are not adequate for addressing African sexualities.

Foreword: Law in an Activist State