ACTionism is about acting towards something, not just resisting the world as it is, but reimagining what it could be.

There’s a growing feeling that many of us carry. An ache. Knowing that something’s not working, and that we want to be part of building something better. But how? Where do we start? Where do we belong in this story of change?

At Re-Action, we’ve been exploring that question, and one of the responses we’re beginning to shape is something we call ACTionism.

It’s a term we’ve coined to describe a kind of space - one that lives somewhere between traditional volunteering and full-on activism. It’s not as well-worn a path as either of those, and that’s kind of the point. It opens up something new. A space for people who want to do something but aren’t quite sure where they fit. A space for people who are tired of feeling like passive observers or solo travellers, and are ready to find their people.

ACTionism is about acting towards something, not just resisting the world as it is, but reimagining what it could be.

It’s about finding your people.

It’s about doing with, not just doing for.

Its collective, creative, and deeply courageous.

It’s about power - realising you have it.

It’s about community - feeling part of something bigger.

It’s about embracing the unknown and choosing to act anyway, even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed.

To ground all of this a little more, we’ve been hugely inspired by Jon Alexander’s book Citizens. In it, he describes three “stories” that shape the way we see ourselves and our role in society.

First, there’s the Subject Story - where power is held by the few, and the rest of us are expected to obey, comply, follow the rules. This is the story of kings and empires and institutions telling us what’s best.

Then came the Consumer Story - a story that whispered of freedom, but mostly in the language of binary choices. What to buy. Who to vote for. What to scroll, swipe, stream. It promised us everything - if only we kept choosing. We were told we could have anything we wanted. But in truth, we were expected to keep the machine turning. To keep consuming. Keep producing. Keep going. This story brought us convenience, comfort, and a powerful sense of individualism. But it also left many of us isolated, exploited, and longing for the tides to change. Because when meaning is something to be bought, it becomes just another transaction. And slowly, we forget how to build it for ourselves. Or with each other.

Now, we find ourselves on the cusp of a new way to be -  a different kind of story entirely: the Citizen Story.

This story says we are not just passive subjects to be ruled, nor consumers to be sold to.

We are Citizens - not in the narrow, legal sense, but in the deepest, most human sense.

People with agency. People with the power to shape the world around us - not alone, but together.

In the Citizen Story, we stop asking “What am I allowed to do?” and start asking “What do we want to act towards?”

It’s a story rooted in care. It values justice, not just efficiency. Creativity, not just productivity. Interdependence, not just independence. It invites us to show up - not as saviours, but as co-creators.

To bring the wholeness of ourselves. To take part. To reimagine what’s possible - together.

The truth is we won’t be enough on our own - we need to get entangled. We need to find the others. 

That’s where ACTionism lives.

It’s our way of helping bring the Citizen Story to life - not just in theory, but in real, grounded, everyday ways. It starts with the doing. With the ACTing.  

We’re not trying to invent something from scratch. We’re naming and nurturing what already exists.

There are people already living in this story - unassumingly, boldly, beautifully.

ACTionism celebrates them. Not to place them on pedestals, but to learn from them, walk beside them, and remind each other: this way of being is not only possible - it’s already happening everywhere and all at once.And it’s powerful. Because small actions matter.

Because the world rarely changes all at once -  it changes in ripples.Simply showing up, with an open heart and a willingness to care, is already an act of courage.

At Re-Action, we ask: What if the future isn’t something we have to fight for - but something we can reimagine together?

We don’t pretend to have all the answers (or any of them)But we believe deeply in the questions.

And in reimagining the systems, stories, and roles that shape our lives.

We build connections between people, between places, between ideas.

We welcome many ways of taking part.

Because we know: There is a place for everyone in this story.

Whether you’re just dipping your toe in, you ache for something new, you’re searching for that first ACTion or you're already getting your hands very messy, ACTionism is for you.