justin dillon

Millennial Activism: Is it Activism 2.0 or Slacktivism?

Submitted by Kristin Ivie on Tue, 07/28/2009 - 14:15
NO FARC

Social change agents of all generations are embracing social media and applying it to their causes, and the Millennial Generation is beginning to own it as the mode of activism that fits them. Social media has helped equip our generation with options beyond striking, boycotting and marching for our causes, as well as made it easier to organize some of these more traditional events. At the same time, there is some concern that this is also encouraging a less committed virtual bumper sticker era of activism.

During my interview with Justin Dillon for the Social Citizen Sighting series, I was struck by his reflection on activism 1.0 as the tendency to want to have one big event/concert/race/march, but not be involved on an ongoing basis, not maintaining a relationship with a nonprofit where you are committed to a cause, committed to solving a problem - like human trafficking, genocide, malaria, peace in the Middle East.
 
That's not to say that grand gestures cannot be meaningful and impactful. No Mas FARC, the mass protest against the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces organized via Facebook drew worldwide attention to the injustice Colombians had suffered for years. More than 5 million people in more than 100 cities around the world marched together, a gesture both significant and moving. Big one-time events can be used strategically, but mega-concerts and boycotts do not a movement make.
 
When we are honest, sometimes these events can be more about how they make us feel - as part of a meaningful movement, a suffering group of martyrs. Research on what motivates people to give shows that people are more likely to give when there is a difficult event or action required along with the donation. Known as the martyr effect, it argues that we actually like to suffer because it makes our contribution feel more meaningful. But we cannot participate in a couple of strikes or protests over the course of a decade and think that’s the best way to make the world a better place.
 
Then what's activism 2.0? Models like Justin's Call+Response and The Extraordinaries efforts suggest that it's fitting into people's everyday routines and finding ways for people to use technology and social media to habitually contribute to social change with small, practical acts - and, often, clicks. The ideal is a place where people integrate activism and supporting their causes into their regular routines – using downtime at the airport to send emails for their cause, donating at the grocery check-out counter, asking friends to charitini for their birthday. Those sharing lessons from the Obama campaign, and others, are stressing that we have to connect this online support to offline action and opportunities. Social media has certainly increased our awareness of causes that need our help, as demonstrated by our growing pile of requests to join a Facebook Cause or turn your avatar green or add a yellow bracelet.
 
But some fear that this mode of activism is vulnerable to the other, arguably worse, extreme. Slacktivism and bumper sticker philanthropy have also been made easier by social networking. You can tweet about a cause or vote for them in a Facebook contest without really ever engaging with the organization or feeling that you are responsible for its success, so do all these little acts really help? Scott Henderson says it can. Awareness eventually sparks engagement, and social signals regarding systemic problems can facilitate conversation. These easy clicks are introducing Millennials to causes in which many of them will eventually further engage. The cause for caution is that most real change takes more than a few clicks. When those clicks don’t actually produce action and change, people grow understandably cynical.
 
But we have to recognize that just because someone is using social media as a part of their "strategy" does not automatically mean they are using it strategically. There are ways to waste time with campaigns that, in the end, don't really bring about social change, but there are ways to waste time with direct mail and organizing rallies too. This flaw is not that the tools are ineffective; it’s rather a misuse and missed opportunity by the organization. As Ivan Boothe said in a recent post, we have to look at this technology as a tactic, only truly effective when part of an overall strategy for change.
 
So, how do we find the balance in this generation's appetite for activism? Can someone really be eased into a cause? Or are we inviting the Millennial Generation into a life of passive - and ineffective - involvement?
in

Social Citizen Sighting: Justin Dillon

Submitted by Kristin Ivie on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 10:10

One of our favorite things about our work is learning how Social Citizens are using their creativity, idealism, and digital fluency to support their causes every day. To share some of these great stories, we're starting a new series called "Social Citizen Sightings." If you see a Social Citizen, we would love to hear about what they're doing too. Just fill out this quick form with their name, affiliation and 150 words or less on what makes them a Social Citizen.

Call+Response is a film that uses music and prominent cultural and political figures to draw attention to the reality that there are more slaves today than ever before. The film’s director, Justin Dillon, is now focusing on using the film to promote community-based activism to abolish slavery. Justin, the subject of our first Social Citizen Sighting, spent a few minutes talking with me about his background, his work, and his vision for Call+Response.

Name: Justin Dillon

If you had to describe yourself in one tweet, what would it be? @justindillon social justice anarchist//change flows from the bottom up

Most recent ipod playlist: Jeff Buckley, Delta Spirit, the Ting Tings…and a few guilty pleasures from Lady Gaga

What are you reading: Muhammad Yunus’s Creating A World Without Poverty

You’ve said you never intended to make a film, so how did you end up creating a documentary to respond to modern-day slavery?
I don’t tend to think in purely linear forms, and that’s found its way into the way we work at Fair Trade Pictures and Fairtrade Fund. We very seldom look for permission and then move. I tend to move forward and then look for the resources to make it work. I’m not saying that’s the way everyone should be, but when you’re trying to do something as audacious as making a film, or more important, making a difference, it’s really hard to find permission, approval and resources right off the bat.

I think that style of working comes from being a songwriter. You know you want to create something that says a certain thing or creates a certain feeling, so you sit down with your piano or guitar and work it.  But once you bring it to the band, it’s always something different than what you started with, and that’s what happened with the film. I knew I needed to point a large part of my life to this injustice because I couldn’t get it out of my head. I was flabbergasted that this was going on and that the general public knew nothing about it. To me, this issue just seemed solvable.   It’s an issue of focus, and if enough people focus on it, it will change.

I started with what I know, which is music.  I believe in its power not just to amuse and entertain, but to inspire and create aspiration in other. The goal early on was to get the music community/business to start focusing on this, which initially led to filming some artists. Then I realized we needed more than just music, we should explain the issue, which led to some undercover work. It just kept building on itself, and about a year into the project, I realized this was a film. It’s never been my goal to be a filmmaker, but a theater was the most obvious connecting point and place for people to experience something like this.

We put the film out in 31 theaters, and it became one of the top documentaries last year. And we did it all with volunteers. That’s an unbelievable feat, but the part of the story that I like is that we were all focused on one thing. We weren’t just focused on simply expressing ourselves or pursuing a career in film.  It was about needing to tell a story and needing this to become bigger than us or our efforts. And that’s what drove the making of the film and what drove the hundreds, no thousands, of people who got behind promoting the film – that was as much the story as the making of the film.

in
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