Activists are people who actively work for social or political causes
and especially those who work to encourage other people to support those
causes. Mass collective action is unlikely to occur without the
involvement of activists. Including recent research from Australia,
Europe, and North and South America, and studies of global online
activists, this issue highlights multi-method approaches to studying
activists and activism across a variety of different regional,
issue-based, and socio-political contexts. In addition to contributing
to ongoing theoretical and empirical discussions, the issue addresses
the policy and strategic implications of this research for social change
agents and organizations.