Becoming an Activist: Individualisation and a Democratic Contentious Ethos in ‘How to’ Books

Abstract

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.