How to be Happy by Calling for Change: Constructs of Happiness and Meaningfulness Amongst Social Movement Activists

Abstract

This paper focuses on how social movement activists view happiness in relation to their political involvement. Interviewers asked activists questions about their personal histories and feelings. The phenomenological strategy involved focused on interviews with subjects who could speak richly about their commitments and emotions. The data from the 11 subjects revealed that there was no simple relationship between a commitment to social activism and subjects’ experiences of happiness. Several subjects oriented their responses to the relationship between meaningfulness, activism, and happiness. In discussion of the analyzed data, the authors suggest that a relationship is evident between the positions articulated by interviewees and their levels of engagement in and withdrawal from activism.