The Relevance of Activism

Meeting Social Activist Obligations

I unequivocally agree with Collins regarding the statement about the responsibilities inherent in the social activism component of using the sociological eye. In fact, the comment by Korgen and White (2015) regarding that responsibility is no less than a call to compel people to actively participate in improving society through social activism. It is clear from this statement that there is no room for passive observance of these ideas. Society is predicated on the interaction between individuals and groups of peoples. How they interact, and striving to improve the way that they interact, is an intrinsic part of the basic social covenant which is implied in the foregoing statement.

Another critical facet of interpreting this statement as a call to action lies in understanding the very nature of it. The statement describes the action that is necessary for participants in society in a two-fold way. Initially, people must gain cognizance of the way society works -- the sort of factors that influence the very sorts of interactions that occur between individuals and groups of people. In this respect, there is something of a learning curve that is necessary because people must know the way that society operates before they can effectively impact it with activism. The pivotal facet of this part of the statement is in effecting that learning curve. It is necessary for people to determine the social injustices that occur and their roots in other domains of life such as finance, religion, and politics. Only after people truly understand the way that society operates are they able to determine how to optimize those processes in a way that is beneficial to society as a whole.

If the first action in this statement is to observe, understand, and learn the various processes that are vital to society, the second call to action in this statement is to better them. The activity that is both implicitly and explicitly denoted in this statement is important. It is not enough to merely realize that social disparities exist. One must do more than simply gain an understanding of the many problems that plague society today, and which have continued to do so for quite some time. It is necessary to apply the understanding and knowledge gleaned in the first part of the call to action in this quotation to active measures that help to rectify them. In fact, the authors of the aforementioned quotation state that there is an obligation for people to do so. The language of this part of the passage is crucial. People are compelled to meet obligation. Similarly, the authors of this quotation feel that people are compelled to redress problems in society, to overall better it.