What is ACTionism?
facilitate
ACTionism works to help people move from caring to action
You know that feeling when you look around you and see what needs changing, but wonder if you're alone in caring? You're not. And you have more power than you think.
ACTionism is the art of finding your people and taking action - together.
Inspired by Jon Alexander's insight in his book CITIZENS, that "all of us are smarter than any of us," we reject the tired narrative that you're either a passive subject or an isolated consumer. What you are instead is an active citizen capable of creating meaningful change.
Many of us feel powerless in the face of everything the world needs right now — wondering what difference we can make, silently hoping it will all blow over, or that the next party in power will finally fix things. The research suggests they won't. Because the key to fixing everything is all of us.
The feeling that nothing we do matters takes a serious toll on our physical and mental health — but here's what ACTionism shows us: When you find your people and act together, something shifts.
You can have an impact. You can also have fun and feel joy in the process.
What we do
ACTionism is an emerging entity - but we exist to encourage and facilitate people to start finding others and taking collective action.
How?
- Through #CitizenFriday - the simplest and most joyful way to start thinking and existing in a way that helps you find the others. Not a campaign, more a weekly ritual. A chance to be a bit more human.
- We have a documentary film you can screen at a community or workplace screening to introduce people to the idea of Actionism
- We're developing guides to help you run ACTionism workshops/sessions after the screenings that help people find others and start planning how they want to take action
- We go to places and spaces and help people practice flexing their citizen muscles by starting conversations that encourage collective action
Who's behind ACTionism?
The term ACTionism was initially coined by filmmaker Michael Shaw as a working title for a film created in collaboration with the Re-Action Collective (founded by Gavin Fernie-Jones and Heather Davies)
Tamasine McCaig, who had previously led the Citizens Collective project with Jon Alexander and Olivia Stamp (an experiment exploring the idea of stepping into our agency as Citizens), came together to establish ACTionism as an entity - we exist to encourage and create the conditions for you to start finding your others and taking collective action.
How we're funding this work
At present, we're run by a micro team of enthusiastic volunteers, writers and creators. If you believe in this project and want to support our work financially, you can do so here on Open Collective. By listing on Open Collective, we’re pledging to be completely transparent about the money we receive and where it is spent.
ACTionism works to:
- We exist to share stories, strategies, and practical guidance for collective action
- Help people turn inspiration into practical action in their communities
- Build collective agency and reduce feelings of powerlessness
- Connect people who feel like you do
- Promote and celebrate community-led initiatives
- Stay up to date
We’d love you to go a step further by signing up for the ACTionism newsletter so we can keep you up to date with the best new content and let you know about upcoming calls and events.
Stay up to date by using the subscribe button in the menu.
If you want to get updates on #CitizenFriday, events, gatherings, calls or opportunities for you to Find the Others:
Our ethical commitment
Regenerative Practices: We support initiatives that restore rather than extract, measuring success by what we leave behind.
Ethical Funding: We only accept funding from organisations focused on regenerative practices. We don’t accept funding from entities investing in fossil fuels, arms, or organisations contributing to harm.