Moral Resonance and the Durability of Symbolic Activism

• In Event: Culture in/of Unsettled Times

Abstract

How does activist collective action persist when its transformative effects are uncertain, goals elusive, and participants acknowledge limited political impact? Conventional accounts of activism link durability to credible prospects of efficacy: sustained mobilization depends on some expectation of political leverage. Yet many contemporary movements persist despite the absence of such prospects. This paper develops a cultural account of activist durability, arguing that persistence is sustained not through strategic adaptation but through the ongoing reproduction of moral meaning, with a gradual redefinition of success.

The analysis draws on twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork (2021–2022) with peace activist groups in post-accord Colombia, part of a larger dissertation on peace activism in war-to-peace transitions. I focus on a mid-size organization, The Weavers, composed of conflict survivors and solidarity volunteers who produce embroidered textiles narrating displacement, loss, and survival, and exhibit them publicly. Data include participant observation, recordings of internal meetings, and in-depth interviews with members, complemented by comparative material from other groups.

I identify three mutually reinforcing mechanisms sustaining symbolic activism despite limited efficacy. First, moral resonance: emotionally and morally loaded language fosters solidarity without requiring analytical agreement. Second, means-ends displacement: symbolic actions acquire intrinsic value as ends themselves, loosening the link between activities and stated goals. Third, institutional embedding: organizations gain stability as their work circulates as symbolic goods in cultural networks oriented toward “peace-building.” Together, these mechanisms show how collective action reproduces itself by making participation meaningful, morally affirming, and publicly legible.

The puzzle of activist persistence dissolves once we see that the organization is no longer trying to achieve its stated goals — it is sustaining the conditions under which the pursuit is experienced as valuable for its own sake. This paper contributes to cultural and political sociology by explaining activist durability in contexts where strategic success is unlikely.

Author

• Frédéric Guillaume Gass-Quintero, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales