Mindful Activism (Routledge Social Justice Communication Activism Series)

This collection immerses scholars of communication and related disciplines in narratives of and conversations about social-justice-focused activism.

Through autoethnographic essays, Mindful Activism chronicles the authors’ experiences as activist academics challenging and seeking to remedy injustices on campus and in local and global communities. Those experiences range from engaging in a single activist act to collaborating over many years with oppressed communities and social change groups. Building upon communication activism research and following a liberation-based transformative learning model, the book shows both activism in action and deep reflection on that activism. The authors re-experience activist experiences, draw out lessons, and invite readers to apply those to their own social justice endeavors. Mindful Activism also demonstrates how mindfulness supports activists in deepening their awareness and understanding of themselves, others, and social systems. This orientation increases the likelihood that activists will remain grounded enough to respond to injustice mindfully/effectively.

The book will enrich courses on activism, social justice, dialogue, narrative inquiry, qualitative methods, autoethnography, and general graduate studies, and will resonate with scholars committed to building a more equitable and just world.

Lisa M. Tillmann is an activist scholar–teacher and social justice documentary filmmaker. At Rollins College, she holds the William R. Kenan Chair of Critical Media and Cultural Studies.Her relationship-centered activism has focused on issues such as LGBTQ+ civil rights, criminal justice reform, economic equity, and reducing gun violence.

Kathryn Norsworthy is a queer activist, counseling psychologist, and George D. & Harriet W. Cornell Chair of Graduate Studies in Counseling and of Critical Media and Cultural Studies at Rollins College. Since 1997, she has been working in solidarity with and accompanying colleagues in Southeast and South Asia; together they conduct mindfulness-based, trauma informed, feminist-liberation projects, focusing on such issues as violence against women, healing-centered peacebuilding in areas of ethno-political conflict, HIV-AIDS, women’s leadership, LGBTQ+ civil rights, and transnational activism and social change.

Steven Schoen, Associate Professor of Critical Media and Cultural Studies at Rollins College, is a media scholar focused on the rhetorics of documentary. He came to higher education from work as a video producer/director specializing in production for nonprofit organizations. Steve’s on- and off-campus activism has focused on issues ranging from gun violence to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.