By: Kiki Demopoulos
Part I: Care and Online Activism
Living in an increasingly digital age, much of our care is expressed on the internet. In terms of caring at a distance, the limitless and interconnected nature of the internet makes this form of care much less intimidating and more accessible. Personally, I am passionate about social geography and issues around it, and ways that I care at a distance are often done on various apps or websites that discuss these topics. Online spaces and communities remove daunting and complex factors physical activism may entail by creating accessible and easy to navigate spaces, such as subreddits or discord groups as discussed in Week 5. The distance that often draws people away from caring for these issues is also accounted for by online spaces' inherent ability to reach every corner of the world. It sounds like a perfect solution to someone asking how they can care at a distance, right? Well, not always. In Week 5, we looked into how complicated online activism really is, citing “slacktivism” and ‘clicktivism”, meaning activism through slacking and/or clicking. Hawkins (2018) also looks into these concepts and how effective online activism really is, specifically how effective this form of activism is as a way to care at a distance. This paper brings forward different perspectives on the matter, citing critics of slacktivism and clicktivism, which argue that this has “no impact on real-life political outcomes, but only serve to increase the feel-good factor of the participants” (Christensen, 2011). I both agree with and relate to this, as I recall feeling feel-good elements posting about socio-political issues on my Instagram story. I would post a quick infographic on a trending issue and feel as if I had done good for the cause by showing that I care about it. Other critics argue that “slacktivism is not at all about “slacking activists; rather it is about non-activists taking symbolic actions” (Tufekci, 2012). Looking back on it, taking symbolic actions was exactly what I used to do by posting those infographics on my Instagram story. Considering these different opinions, we were asked in Week 5 if online care is activism. Many perspectives were brought up, but when consulting my notes a main idea that was repeated several times is that online activism does not invoke concrete change, but is rather used to virtue signal and make people feel better about themselves. This perspective resonated with me, as I recalled the #WomenLifeFreedom movement when it trended on social media. As an Iranian woman, I found the overwhelming amount of Instagram stories posting brutal videos from the streets of Iran caused more harm than good, and was traumatic to watch for myself and my family members. While this is a specific example and does not account for all forms of online activism, it speaks to the nature of online activism and who participates in it. Caring at a distance should not depend on a post or a click, especially related to topics the participant is not educated on or aware of any colonial, neoliberal, and western perspectives they carry along with it. Caring at a distance begins with education and awareness, working towards reforming Western and Eurocentric perspectives.
Caring at a distance begins with education and awareness, working towards reforming Western and Eurocentric perspectives.
Part 2: Care and Volunteer Tourism
Caring at a distance also leaves us with the dilemma of who we should be caring for. This is a question I have asked myself and have evaluated where these ideas on who provides care versus who receives care comes from, and colonial biases that come with that. In Week 10 we looked into volunteer tourism, which encapsulates this idea of the power dynamics in giving versus receiving care in the context of caring at a distance. We looked at a few different narratives behind volunteer tourism, mainly colonial and neoliberal ideas of care. Friedus (2017) delves into these underlying messages and narratives, specifically looking into Western saviour complexes that exist in volunteer tourism in Africa. Personally, Western saviourism as it relates to the Global South is something I feel connected to. My mother is from Iran, somewhere in the Global South, and Middle Eastern countries are often viewed as “lesser” than countries in the Global North. I have grown up with these harmful views, with my peers in school asking if my mother needed to “escape” Iran and responding with pity to hearing where she is from. This pity held by Westerners towards other countries and cultures is a large force behind care through volunteer tourism. As Friedus (2017) highlighted, these volunteers are, most of the time, unskilled and bring no benefits to the countries they volunteer in. Rather, they superficially engage, as learned in Week 10, to fuel white saviorism complexes that are often subconscious and inadvertent (Friedus, 2017). Superficial engagement is essentially the essence of volunteer tourism, and the pity those in the Global North feel to those in and from the Global South is something I have experienced first hand. In Week 10, a central point in caring at a distance was “broadening the category of us”. This point stood out most to me, as it encapsulates the main dynamic behind power imbalances in society: the us versus them mindset. By broadening the category or “us”, those in the Global North will no longer view themselves as a collective above the Global South, or “them”.
By broadening the category or “us”, those in the Global North will no longer view themselves as a collective above the Global South, or “them”.
This dynamic is essential to volunteer tourism, as if the category of “us” were to be broadened this divide would not be as stark and oppressive, reinforcing colonial dynamics. If this were to occur, certain countries and communities would not be viewed as lesser or below others, and in need of help from those above them. Who participates in volunteer tourism is also worth noting, as we found in Week 10 the majority are white, upper to middle class women. I am mixed race and grew up lower middle class, with both of my parents being immigrants. I have never participated in volunteer tourism, as both of my parents would often speak out against it. I personally believe this is because they know what it feels like to be othered, they have experienced it first hand and I have as well. Due to this background, we are hyper aware of Western and Eurocentric beliefs of care that are reflected in volunteer tourism.
Part 3: Care and Environmental Justice
Environmental justice is a concept central to the idea of caring at a distance, as it entails the greatest issue we as humanity currently face paired with socioeconomic injustice. Caring about this can seem out of reach, as climate change often feels bigger than we as individuals, but when we narrow this concept down into more tangible and visible issues, our care can become more focused and specific. In Week 9, we investigated concepts around environmental justice, and climate gentrification especially stood out to me. As we learned, climate gentrification refers to “residential and social displacement - in the short and mid-term- from green climate infrastructure and its associated gentrification risks”. We looked into the specific case study of East Boston, and how climate gentrification in the community resulted in the displacement of people and social exclusion in the community. Climate gentrification is an issue I feel very familiar with, and have unique insight on how to care at distance in the case of environmental justice for those who fall victims to it. I am from Toronto and have witnessed climate gentrification occur in communities in the city, often ones that are not physically close to me but ones I would drive by and witness change drastically.
I am from Toronto and have witnessed climate gentrification occur in communities in the city, often ones that are not physically close to me but ones I would drive by and witness change drastically.
I have cared about this issue as I started to research a specific case study in the city: the climate gentrification of Regent Park. Regent Park is a neighbourhood in the downtown core of Toronto that was built as a community of social housing projects. This area was not close to where I lived, but seeing in news articles and hearing about what happened to the neighbourhood lead me to look further into the topic. The social housing that once existed in Regent Park was torn down, displacing residents and rebuilding flashy new apartments with lots of green space and environmentally friendly architecture. It appeared to be all positives, labelled as a “revitalization” of the community. The issue with this, as was the issue in East Boston, is that the people who were displaced from their homes are unable to move into these apartments due to the high rent costs. I participated in a protest in Toronto against the climate gentrification of Regent Park, as well as put together a presentation on the topic to present to my Urban Planning class. I cared for this topic when I read about it in the news, and even though it occurred in my city, there was significant distance between Regent Park and my community, both geographically and socially. I expressed my care for this topic by protesting and educating my peers on the topic, which are ways to care at a distance through collective action and education. Anguelovski et al (2019) looks into the risks associated with climate gentrification and solutions proposed for the matter, including how we can care. The researchers suggest that “we need improved understanding of how people respond to climate threats and to the displacement that adaptation responses might cause and how community groups support them” (Anguelovski et al, 2019).
Part 4: Care through Conscious Consumerism
What we put our money into is an essential way of both showing and providing care, which is why practicing conscious consumerism is key in caring at a distance. In an increasingly globalized world, companies are multinational and very few material goods only collect revenue in the country they are sold in. Due to this, they money we use to purchase travels across borders and can fund initiatives and individuals that we are unaware of unless further research is done. This research is rarely simple as companies do not always practice transparency. This then leaves the consumer to look through different resources in order to effectively care at a distance. Hawkins (2018) looks further into caring at a distance and the role material connections play in care, specifically how material goods and services have close connections to care and dynamics of care. We looked more into these concepts in an activity in Week 8, where we investigated everything that occurs to produce a Canada Goose jacket. This activity highlighted how invisibilized the process behind the manufacturing of material goods truly is, and how much we are unaware of before purchasing a product. The invisibilized impacts in this case study include using unethical bycatching methods as well as hidden labour. When one buys a Canada Goose jacket, these impacts are strategically not clear or visible to the consumer. This is why to care at a distance through conscious consumerism, we have a relational responsibility, as mentioned in Hawkins (2018), to be aware of where our money is going.
This is why to care at a distance through conscious consumerism, we have a relational responsibility, as mentioned in Hawkins (2018), to be aware of where our money is going.
Personally, I have found apps and online forums that expose companies for what they support, or what they put our money towards. These apps help to fill the gap of what is hidden about companies, and have been increasingly gaining more popularity from what I have personally observed. The app Buycott is a key example of this, as I downloaded several years ago and use it to scan brands and organizations to uncover what they support and where revenue goes. The app is a way I have been able to care at a distance, as I can use my money as a vote towards and against certain issues by educating myself on their connection to certain companies. One specific case of this is when I was looking into buying a SodaStream and used Buycott to first find out where my money would be going. The app informed me that SodaStream supports and funds the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), which lead me to decide against this purchase. If I did not do this extra research, I very likely would have directly funded something that entirely contradicts what I care about without having any idea. Caring at a distance often involves these extra steps, which can seem daunting at first, but there are services that exist to make this less daunting. It is up to us to seek them out, and this bit of extra effort makes a drastic difference in our ability to care.
References
Anguelovski, I., Connolly, J. J., Pearsall, H., Shokry, G., Checker, M., Maantay, J., Gould, K., Lewis, T., Maroko, A., & Roberts, J. T. (2019).
Friedus, A. (2017, November 14). Volunteer tourism: What's wrong with it and how it can be changed. Pro Bono Econos. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.probonoeconos.org/articles/2017/volunteer-tourism-whats-wrong-with-it-an d-how-it-can-be-changed
Hawkins, R. (2018). Breaking down barriers of culture and geography? caring-at-a-distance through web 2.0. New Political Science, 40(4), 727–743. https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2018.1528534
Henrik Serup Christensen, “Political Activities on the Internet: Slacktivism or Political Participation by Other Means?” First Monday 16:2 (2011), available online at: http://uncommonculture.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3336.
Tufekci, “#Kony2012.”
Why green “climate gentrification” threatens poor and vulnerable populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(52), 26139–26143. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1920490117
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