Forging and Sustaining Vision. Regenerative Activism 2022.

There is no doubt that the late modern collapse of old grand narratives and ensnaring ideologies can offer a sense of liberation and relief, but it can also leave us feeling directionless and disoriented. From experience and history we learn about the the always incomplete nature of our victories, and the compromises and betrayals that seem to be inherent in every gain we make. How do we sustain our vision through all of this? As William Morris wrote in 1886, “I pondered all these things, and how people fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and when it comes turns out not to be what they meant, and other people have to fight for what they meant under another name.” We might not see the fruits of our actions and those we do see might not be what we expected. Amidst all this, how do we understand, forge, and sustain vision in our movements?

We will explore:
* Are we necessarily reduced to addressing immediate needs and firefighting oppressions in the moment rather than participating in an historical project?
* Can we act with a sense of direction and guiding vision that situates our action on a path to something better?
* Of course, we can value action as an end in itself. But does this absolve us of concern about the longer-term impact or the need to aspire to something different from the present in which we act?