Sometimes, activism can seem like a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

Every activist has heard people say: “Nothing ever changes. Things are the way they are and that’s how it is and always will be. All your complaining and noise will do nothing to change anything.”

But imagine what the world would be like without activists:

  • Women would be stuck at home raising babies or would have an extremely narrow range of job choices if there had been no women’s liberation activism in the past few decades. There’d be no day care, a husband striking a wife would still be legal and abortions would be illegal in all circumstances.
  • Homosexuality would be illegal, without the gay rights movement of the past few decades.
  • Without the environmental activists of the last 40 years, there’d be no clean air or clean water legislation, no ban on harmful pesticides, no preservation of species acts, no limits to fishing methods, no restrictions on logging, a lot fewer parks, a lot more nuclear power plants, a lot more dirty coal-fired power plants, a lot more dams, less efficient car engines, less efficient refrigerators and washing machines and an even bigger hole in the earth’s ozone layer.
  • Without the world-wide struggle to end apartheid from the 1950s to the 1990s, and especially the courageous activism of South Africans themselves, the white minority would still be in power.
  • If there had not been civil rights activists from the 1920s until today, there would still be segregation in the United States, Asians would not be able to vote in Canada or other white settler states and native peoples throughout the Americas and other continents would not have even minimal citizenship rights.
  • If there had been no anti-war activists in the 1960s and 70s, Vietnam may not have united.
  • If there had been no world-wide demonstrations of support for Solidarnosc in Poland, Socialism with a Human Face in Czechoslovakia and the Hungarian Uprising, it would have been much easier for the Russian troops to remain throughout Eastern Europe.
  • Without the millions of anti-colonial activists from the 1920s to the 1970s, Africa, the Caribbean and most of Asia would still “belong” to European powers.
  • Without the suffragette activists from the late 1800s well into this century, women would not have the right to vote.
  • Without millions of union activists around the world over the past 150 years, there would be no limits on the working day, children everywhere would still work instead of attend school, there’d be no public or private pensions, no unemployment insurance, no disability insurance, no health and safety legislation, no workers’ compensation, no minimum wage, no vacation pay, no statutory holiday pay, no equal pay for work of equal value, no grievance procedure, no overtime, a lot poorer wages and unlimited management rights.
  • Without the labour activists who worked with millions of social activists over the past 150 years, there’d be no vote for anyone except for a privileged few white men, no public school system, no public universities, no retirement legislation or social security, no public health care systems, no right to join a union, no welfare systems, a lot poorer sewage and potable water systems, no graduated income tax, and no social programs of any kind.
  • Without the anti-slavery activists of the 1800s there would still be millions of people bought and sold, then transported against their will to distant parts of the world where they would often be worked to death.

It’s interesting to learn that students back in the 1960s were fighting some of the very same battles that we faced at Concordia University in Montreal in the 21st century. The university administration often arbitrarily added extra security, especially for Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and Muslim Students Association events, and passed the prohibitive costs on to the student groups.

The room bookings department and security regularly delayed authorization for political events. It was Concordia’s Board of Governors that banned student activities, political or otherwise, in the major areas of the university in the aftermath of the protest that prevented former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from speaking on campus.

And the battle to maintain the division of police and judicial powers, to stop Concordia’s Rector from being judge, jury and executioner, continues. It seems no matter where in the world students take action, especially if successful, we are faced with similar battles to limit our ability to freely express and organize ourselves.

Students also played a major role in the U.S. civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. Students in France in 1968 joined with unions and other organizations bringing millions of people into the street to successfully demand major societal change.

In the same year Czech students and others confronted tanks in what seemed at the time like a major defeat for democracy, but which in hindsight is seen as a critical event ultimately leading to the dismantling of the Russian empire in Eastern Europe. Students also played a key role in demanding democracy in Latin America, Burma, Korea, China, Pakistan and throughout Africa.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but the message is clear: Activism works. Without people willing to put in time and effort, sometimes even risking their lives to confront the system, the world would be a much worse place for most of humanity.

Throughout every age, going back to the beginning of human thought, some people (usually the richest and most powerful) claimed that the way things were was the very best civilization could ever offer. Other people dreamed of improving the world and of doing things a different way. The two sides have always clashed and out of that confrontation has come change and progress.

Through the ages activism has required people who are willing to dream, to discuss and to act. Those who have done this have given humanity so much. To me, activism seems the least we can do for our future.

Yves Engler

Dubbed “Canada’s version of Noam Chomsky” (Georgia Straight), “one of the most important voices on the Canadian Left” (Briarpatch), “in the mould of I. F. Stone” (Globe and Mail), “part...