Individualization and Political Activism: Pitfalls, Opportunities, and New Practices

The relationship between the individual and collective action has been a subject of debate ever since people first began to theorize about political action and mobilization, but this relationship has rarely been specifically addressed as one linked to individualization. Individualization processes are becoming increasingly pervasive, and social movements are not immune to them. The panel encourages reflection on the processes of individualization within the practices of political activism that are intersecting, clashing, and blending with practices of solidarity and mutualism. This highlights the need for an investigation into the ways in which experiences of activism reshape the relationship between individual subjectivity and perceptions of the future, imaginaries, values, and orientations of action. Political action seems to be becoming increasingly hybrid and intersectional, rooted in the daily needs and emotional experiences of social actors, yet at the same time extending to a global and systemic level. The panel calls for theoretical and empirical contributions highlighting how the levels of individual experience and sociopolitical transformation cease to be opposing dimensions, finding instead common ground in new practices of mutual aid, solidarity, resistance, identification and social imagination.