THREAD Over the last few days my Twitter feed’s been full of incredible fundraising & donations for frontline responders to #AustralianBushfires by celebrities, sportspeople, musicians, actors, authors, instagram influencers, media commentators & more. It makes my heart sing. BUT
As a longterm scholar of citizen civic & political engagement in Australia I also see it reinforces our national story of community-engaged ‘doers’, resilient in the face of a crisis, ‘she’ll be right’ as long as we all help one another.
On the surface this is a good thing. Despite decades of consumerist neo-liberalism, a strong communitarian/egalitarian ethos remains strong here (tempered sometimes by ugly debates on who’s most deserving or un-deserving of community support)
My recent research into political engagement (with @darren_halpin & @mikekvaughan) found that we’re most likely to make a donation or sign a petition on causes we believe in. These individualised responses are dominant in our everyday political repertoire.
On the other hand we’re least likely to engage in protest, & especially reluctant to do so compared to many other advanced & emerging democracies. Despite the @AUelectionstudy finding that levels of trust in Australian govt have never been so low
what cld this mean for our #ClimateEmergency moment leading to grassroots-driven, mass political & social change? It will be hard. Change happens via shared stories of clear grievances, disruptive mobilisation, and longterm organising. Not from looking inwards or asking nicely.
So in the end my point is: yes make personal donations, and support local communities BUT also read @1RossGittins smh.com.au/business/the-e… on how a charity model invisibilises years of inadequate govt funding & climate policy.
& every time there’s a story on resilient Australian communities, also voice expectations of collective action, state & national governments, international agreements etc, for creating sustainable political change. Historically, structural power is only challenged by people power
