The Activist Character: Power and Empowerment in Bestselling Activist Memoirs in the United States
Johan Gøtzsche-Astrup
Abstract:This article introduces the activist as a widely disseminated character within the culture of social movement societies. Drawing on studies of activist identities, Alasdair MacIntyre on characters, and the sociology of critique, it argues that the activist provides one way of imagining unjust structures of power and the possibilities of critical empowerment. The article unpacks this character in 20 bestselling activist memoirs in the United States. Across the memoirs, the structures of power are understood as … Show more
Set email alert for when this publication receives citations?
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.