Emotional self‐management for activists

Abstract

It is important for activists to be able to deal skillfully with their emotions, a process we call emotional self‐management. Done both individually and collectively, this can help activists to be more effective and help create the sort of society they believe is desirable. One approach to skillful management of emotions is through the concept of mindfulness, which involves paying attention to one’s state of being. Activists have much to gain by moving from negative emotions to ones such as ‘joyful hope’.

Keywords:

• activism
• emotions
• mindfulness
• self‐management
• joy

Acknowledgements

We thank Sharon Callaghan, Karen Kennedy, Debra King, Bryan Law, Jason McLeod, Yasmin Rittau, Majken S⊘rensen and Stellan Vinthagen for helpful comments on drafts of this paper.