How enjoyment can offer Gen Z the political liberation they desire
Damisola Sulaiman
Over the past few years, Gen Z has not had it easy. With many reaching their ‘prime’ years during a global pandemic and a cost of living crisis, following the aftermath of decades of cuts to public funding and privatisation, Gen Z have truly had to adapt to unchartered territory. Rather than the world reinvigorating them with optimism and possibility, we have experienced a worsening climate crisis and wars where the atrocities are documented and circulated in real time for everyone to see online. Helplessness and feelings of defeat have always been a natural response to struggles and hardship, but along with that we can learn the importance of community and collective joy in building resilience and resisting the effects of oppression.
Whilst we often associate the fight for a better world with struggle and hardship, joy has always been central to liberation movements. In the 1980s, black members of the LGBTQ+ community in cities such as New York, Chicago and New Orleans looked to the ballroom for a space where they could achieve glory, find surrogate families, and feel a sense of belonging, while they fought against violence and ostracisation in their daily lives.
The idea of joy as liberation is attributed to Audre Lorde’s A Burst of Light, in which she wrote, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Audre’s sentiment was also explored in the book Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by Adrienne Maree Brown, which reframes activism as a joyous and healing practice rather than a burdensome task. Brown encourages readers to awaken desires within themselves that demand a fulfilling life, proposing the concept she calls "pleasure activism”. Today, many Gen Z have adopted this stance, prioritising collective joy through community-building. While Audre and Adrienne focus on individuals searching for joy within themselves, Gen Z are looking at the power of shared pleasure as a tool for liberation.
Binta Yade is the cultural programmer of The Black State, a collective focused on championing liberation and institutional equality through workshops, creative engagements and conversation. She believes the collective amnesia we experience in relation to grassroots movements and joy is a consequence of stories of hardship leaving more of an impression on people over time. “People just tend to remember negative things over positive things, it leaves more of a mark when something is known for its negativity,” she explains. But the importance of joy and pleasure cannot be underestimated. “Joy is liberation means the act of being joyful in oppressive states is in and of itself, an act of resistance.” says Binta.
But Gen Z are breaking the pattern, as many young organisers are amplifying the importance of community and intentional pleasure, while using this as a tool to highlight liberation movements. In recent months, with many eyes on the war in Gaza, Gen Z have illustrated this with the curation of events focused on anything from poetry to picnics all over London facilitating community solidarity with Palestinian liberation.
Grieve Into Love was a poetry event curated by DJ Patricia Doors and artist Tamara Al-Malshouk. The event involved performances by artists, poets, musicians and singers who attempted to draw on indigenous ancestral traditions of moving through grief. Film club Shineemo Village, which hosts monthly screenings aimed at making cinema events more accessible to people from marginalised groups, hosted a screening of Goal Dreams - a story about the formation of the Palestinian National football team during their preparations for the 2006 World Cup, and all proceeds from the screening were donated to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund. A spokesperson from Shineemo Village says: “Shineemo Village was launched with the intention of creating a third space. Film clubs in London are rare, so we wanted to create an environment for cinephiles and casual film enjoyers to unwind and connect with the people around them through the love of cinema. After seeing Goal Dreams at the London Palestinian Film Festival we wanted to share the significance and incredible nature of this film, especially with those who may not have seen it - it was hugely important to start our film club this way.”
Gen Z are also creating third spaces which centre connection, for people who have felt excluded from traditional forms of socialising. Art Beyond the Shell, a community which creates spaces for its “turtles” to engage with each other and feel comfortable coming out of their shell, hosted a community picnic event in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where attendees were welcomed to eat, play games and have open conversations. All proceeds from the tickets were donated to providing assistance to those facing humanitarian crises in Palestine, Congo and Sudan. “A turtle is someone who has faced obstacles and has had a slower start to life. We never directly say it is someone who is black, poor, disabled or neurodivergent, but we welcome everyone who can identify with that struggle.” founder Dualeh Oke tells Naked Politics.
Joy as liberation doesn’t only apply to collective experiences but also life's simple pleasures.
Over the past few years, reading physical books has become increasingly popular among Gen Z, undeniably in part due to the explosion of #BookTok. NielsenBookData found that physical books accounted for 80% of Gen Z book purchases from November 2021 to 2022. This has led to a growing appreciation for the connection that literature brings us. The Guardian found that book club listings on the ticketing site Eventbrite increased by 350% between 2019 and 2023.
“The fact that people are saying ‘I am going to dedicate myself to come to a book club and take the time out of my week to actually sit and read rather than producing’, is in itself very anti-capitalist.” says India Chambers, founder of London based book club Casual Readers Club.
She described how everyone feels the pressure of living in a capitalist society, and choosing to take time to be in a space with other people engaging with media shifts people away from the hyper-individualism capitalism encourages. Dualeh echoed this, noting how his perspectives on global issues have evolved significantly since he started attending in person events.
Of course, joy as liberation isn’t without its critics. Some believe it promotes hyper-individualism and takes away attention from the causes being promoted. But how can we do the work without the rest and recovery needed? As India says, “I love people that are able to commit to the cause through every single thing that they’re doing and there are moments of time where I feel like that is absolutely necessary, but I also think it’s vital for everyone to engage in the way that feels right for them. Considering everything that is going on around you infuses into the work that you’re doing, and there is more than one way to be resistant.” Also, the collective focus of events such as book clubs and poetry nights lend themselves to the community-building that is needed for effective organising, but also the opportunity to engage with people who have wider views, allowing many to ignite passions that they may have never discovered otherwise.
Fundamentally, both joy and resistance are as vital as each other in movement building. As one TikToker explains, “Self care is part of resistance when you are doing the work. You cannot be an effective organiser, activist or revolutionary without first making sure that you are in the right space both physically and mentally to do the work but that does not make it the work.”
Gen Z’s approach to joy as liberation goes hand in hand with the recognition of the importance of mental well-being, community support and shared experiences in sustaining long-term activism. Looking forward, this trend is likely to continue and evolve. Groups such as Art Beyond The Shell and Flock Together that integrate tangible community-building with classic joyful experiences are growing in popularity. Each day, activism is being redefined by Gen Z as less burdensome and more joyful, allowing many to explore more traditional forms of activism such as direct action or policy advocacy. The challenge for Gen Z and future generations will be to maintain a balance – to allow joy to propel the struggle without losing sight of the pain and hardship that bring it about in the first place.
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