The ambivalence of creative activism as a reorganization of critique

Abstract

This article identifies an emerging type of critique and defines it as creative activism. It is argued why this is distinguishable from earlier similar forms of protests and shown why traditional theories of political art, social movements and citizenship are in themselves insufficient to accurately describe and understand the normative ambivalence of what is also known as culture jamming. Irony and utopia are proposed as analytical concepts supplementing these existing theoretical frameworks. It is also demonstrated how these alternative perspectives can be fruitfully applied to understand the reorganization of critique regardless of whether one views creative activism suspiciously as a societal symptom or more optimistically as a democratic potential.

Memetic protest and the dramatic diffusion of Alan Kurdi

“…In this new communication environment, photographs are constantly reshaped, remediated, and re-contextualized by creative activists (Hansen, 2015: 275; Harrebye, 2015), and in ways that often result in the generation of global meme clusters . 2 Shifman (2014: 341) defines an Internet meme as ‘a group of digital items that: (a) share common characteristics of content, form, and/or stance; (b) are created with awareness of each other; and (c) are circulated, imitated, and transformed via the internet by multiple users’.…”

Culture jamming and Brandalism for the environment: The logic of appropriation

“…Greenwashing of the climate talks became a key area of focus for the Brandalism project and which they are not an environmental social movement, they belong in the broader genre of creative activism. The latter refers to activist initiatives which make tactical use of digital media, are process rather than result-oriented and often operate on the basis of projects (Harrebye, 2015).…”

“…This piece argues that the Brandalism project is a case of culture jamming which draws upon the logic of appropriation to connect a * forthcoming at Popular Communication* please do not circulate or cite without permission of the author* critique of corporate culture to environmentalism, as well as challenge the dominance of advertising in public spaces. By gearing its actions towards advertising, the Brandalism project challenges critiques about the incorporation of culture jamming within consumer culture (Jordan, 2002;Heath and Potter, 2005;Harrebye, 2015). In the visual battlefields of public bus stops and later in the virtual channels of the internet, forms of discursive political consumerism lend themselves to resist and reuse the logic of appropriation.…”

Radikale brud, aktivisme og forandring: Indføring i en brydningstid

“…I et historisk perspektiv synes man således at kunne ane nogle overordnede skift i repertoire, organisationsformer, kommunikationsmidler og ideologisk kohaerens som er vaerd at pege på (Harrebye 2015). Det, som man kan kalde det "kritiske repertoire", er naturligvis i konstant udvikling ligesom selve graensen for, hvad der kan opfattes som "kritik" og hvad der udgør det "politiske" konstant, bliver udfordret -som vi for eksempel har set det her i Danmark med Dukkepartiet.…”