FASHION: ACTIVISM, resilience

 “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare” - Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light and Other Essays

what form (or forms) of activism may address the social injustice, we need to identify the problems and change our ways of thinking, feeling or working towards change and start to achieve it.

https://www.amnesty.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/207-sustainable-activism-self-care.pdf

Activism and the law

In some countries, there may be limitations - cultural or legal - on different forms of activism. Only you can know what risks you are prepared to take as you proceed through the rest of the course. Understanding what is viable and/or legal in your region should be part of your plan for activism, so that you can understand any potential risks for you and your fellow activists.

https://starterculture.net/resources/

Practices of care

Being an activist can be inspiring and energising, but it can also be demoralising and draining. Taking care of your physical and emotional wellbeing is important for many reasons. Sometimes we just need to rest and replenish ourselves. It is an act of resistance in itself to recognise this and to take care of yourself.

When it feels that there is so much injustice in the world, it might feel that you need to keep going with your activism, despite how you feel. It can be difficult to remember that you are as important as everyone else. Useful strategies include pacing yourself, limiting how much time you spend on activism, asking for help or working with others. It can also be valuable to remember that our contribution, no matter how small, is still a step towards change.

There are other strategies that we can adopt to take care of our emotional and physical wellbeing. We could call these strategies ‘practices of care’. There is no single care practice that will provide everyone with the same emotional or physical resources we need to maintain our wellbeing or replenish us. 

what we can bring to activism?

Think of some times in your life when something important and good happened because of a choice you made, because of something you said or did, because of the way you were. Who or what benefitted from this? What strengths did you bring to the situation? How did you feel, having contributed to something?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/186LKEwckLf5L-uEEtrNplTRXfF41oAitIwLPcoJRTfE/edit

• The Dress for Our Time project uses the power of fashion to communicate some of the world’s most complex issues, notably climate change and the mass displacement of people. The dress is created out of a decommissioned UNHCR refugee tent that once housed a family of displaced people at Zaatari Camp in Jordan.
• The LASTING project investigates durability as one of the most promising strategies towards more sustainable consumption.
• The ReGo project uses fashion activism to address societal issues and offers educational and employment opportunities for young people in the fashion industry.