The Activist: A Daoist Protest Manual

The reason why protests have caused maximum pain for minimum gain is that they have done everything right. Well-developed consensus practices from activists have been put into practice in highly coordinated fashion internationally: keep messaging simple, restrict communications to a few media-trained representatives, maximize social media spread, try to provoke reactions, do not compromise, and do not legitimize the opposition by speaking to them. As a result, most observers not already sympathetic to the cause have come away with a picture of students as obstinate, naïve, and inclined to violence. Daoist philosophy holds a set of principles that are completely opposite to the normal modes of social activism. It opposes conflict, striving, standard-setting, clever techniques, and any kind of trust in language. Instead, it promotes grounding oneself in the reality of the world, looking to flow in natural directions, disengagement from conflict, and patience. This may all sound very mystical and not of much use to protests; but viewed in another light, it results in some common-sense conclusions. Would you be more easily persuaded by someone who sat down with you for a conversation, or by someone who yelled angry accusations at you from across a barricade? The Activist tries to bring out the ＂common-sense＂ aspect of Daoist ideals to advocate for a new kind of social activism. It critiques common modes of social and political activism and proposes new modes of activism that might be more effective in promoting positive change in the world.

Daniel Freid is Associate Professor of classical Chinese literature and philosophy at the University of Alberta, where he is also chair of the Department of East Asian Studies. His primary research specialization is in ancient and medieval Chinese theories of language and communication, considered from an intellectual history perspective. He played a key role in bringing the study of early China into the forum structure of the Modern Language Association, and he is currently serving as an executive committee member on the MLA’s Association of Language Departments. He is a past president of the Association of Chinese and Comparative Literature, and current Vice-President of the World Association of Chinese Studies. Moreover, he is co-editor of the scholarly book series, Routledge Studies in Comparative Chinese Literature and Culture. Freid lives in Alberta, Canada.