Unpacking the Activist Shtick

On the Representation (and Possibilities) of Activism in Popular Culture

Authors

  • Yaël van der Wouden Utrecht University

Abstract

In the 50s it was the beatniks, the 60s had the hippies, and we—what do we have, really? In this essay, the social role and history of social activism will be sketched out and analysed with an eye on the future. How do we overcome misrepresentations, and how do we shift the creation of information from media-driven dominant ideologies, to the individual? Join me as I search for answers in the depths of popular culture, including (but not restricted to), the Powerpuff Girls, evil cash registers, and the grand invention of the Internet.

Author Biography

  • Yaël van der Wouden, Utrecht University

    Yaël van der Wouden (1987) is currently enrolled in the Comparative Literature Research Master Program. She is specialised in Gender and Memory Studies, with a benign fixation on anything to do with popular culture.

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Published

2026-05-04

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 2 (2012): Revolution

Section

Masterclass

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

van der Wouden, Y. (2026). Unpacking the Activist Shtick: On the Representation (and Possibilities) of Activism in Popular Culture. FRAME, Journal of Literary Studies, 25(2), 73-92. https://platform.openjournals.nl/FRAME/article/view/27434