What Is Direct Action?

In a society where the individual is the beginning and the end... is it any wonder that the concept of community is so alien to us? Direct action is the best strategy we have to combat fascism.

May 25, 2025

This piece is simply putting down into words and expanding on what Joe and I will be discussing tonight in our weekly TikTok live (you can catch us on TikTok at 7pm Pacific time)!

What is direct action? How should we define it… dictionaries, encyclopedias, activists, ourselves?

First definition that comes up in my google search was from Oxford and is as follow,

“the use of strikes, demonstrations, or other public forms of protest rather than negotiation to achieve one's demands.”

Cambridge dictionary offered the following definition,

“the use of strikes, violence, or protests as a way of trying to get what you want, instead of talking.”

There’s a danger in utilizing basic definitions when discussing political or philosophical terms, I believe that the Cambridge definition especially is an example of this because it can reduce terms into ways that strips meaning and impedes a deeper understanding of the term in question. An easy example of this would be the term “liberal”.

I find that encyclopedias or the organizations involved in economic/social/political/philosophical movements themselves offer a more complete definition that can provide us a better understanding and thus aid in stronger application.

With that said, let's explore some definitions from encyclopedias and organizations themselves. Wikipedia defines direct actions as,

“a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a government's laws or actions) or to solve perceived problems (such as social inequality).”

The Anarchist Library defines direct action as,

“political action aimed at achieving a specific goal or objective, and which is carried out directly by an individual or group of people, without appealing to a higher authority for legitimacy.”

If you asked me… direct action is taking accountability, it’s the acknowledgment that we can and should attempt to make an impact. It’s the refusal to pawn the work off onto someone else or find reasons to rationalize inaction. It’s the rejection of apathy and the acceptance of our role in collective responsibility and action. It’s placing your brick down in tandem with your community instead of waiting and hoping someone else will pave the road to progress.

A working definition.

Direct action is any collective or individual act taken to achieve a political or social goal without appealing to government authority or going through institutional channels.

It includes a spectrum of tactics… from nonviolent resistance (like strikes, boycotts, sit-ins, mutual aid) to confrontational or disruptive methods (like blockades, sabotage, or property destruction).

Key characteristics:

Bypasses bureaucracy and legal systems
Confronts power directly, often in public
Rooted in agency, urgency, and necessity
Historically used by: labor unions, civil rights movements, anti-colonial struggles, anti-fascists

What are the impediments to direct action?

Collective Impediments:

Fear of repression = fear of job loss, police, surveillance, jail

(A conditioned fear of consequences reinforces the illusion that obedience equals safety.)

Myth of legitimacy through institutions/systems = voting will save us, wait for the courts, lets petition… while all of these actions can be impactful and important, the idea that tools of the system alone can protect us from the system or combat the worst aspects of the system is naive.

(Systems that cause harm are rarely the systems that will solve it. But indoctrination teaches obedience as virtue.)

Fragmentation/identity politics = purity tests, lack of solidarity, in-fighting
(Divide and conquer is the oldest tactic of power, weaponizing difference to neutralize collective strength.)

Co-option and commodification of resistance = woke brands, corporate adoption, performative allyship, social media clout chasing masked as activism

(Capitalism sells revolution as identity, not responsibility… defanging its urgency.)

Lack of political education + history of progress and change = many people don’t know their rights or the history of resistance in the USA and how that has expanded their rights.
(The ignorance is manufactured, a misinformed public becomes a manageable one.)

Individual Impediments:

Disability = accessibility can certainly be a valid impediment, the good news is now more than ever there are more ways for people to find ways to get involved depending on what is realistic for them be it offline or online.
(Everyone has their strengths or weaknesses… disability does not limit resistance. Our definition of resistance has simply been too narrow.)

Time = Life is busy and more Americans than ever are living paycheck to paycheck and working more hours to meet their needs. What do we prioritize in our needed downtime?
(Time is stolen from us, reclaiming it through direct action is the heart of resistance.)

Comfort/convenience = I'm too busy, someone else will do it, the system has been created to cater to our comfort and convenience. How do we break out of this training? Resistance requires a level of sacrifice and willingness to give a little. Remember, it’s a lot when we all do a little.
(Conformity becomes a sedative. The status quo bribes you with crumbs to protect the banquet for a few.)

Fear of isolation = Losing friends, family tension, workplace alienation.

(When conformity is the culture, authenticity feels like a betrayal to those who accept the status quo.)

Learned helplessness = Nothing ever changes, it just is the way it is, what could I do there’s too much.
(The system is meant to strip us of our creativity and empathy… passive acceptance feels like wisdom in a jaded heart.)

Over theorization/intellectualization = constant analysis, theory debates, waiting until the time is right or for the perfect moment.
(Philosophy without action is cowardice.)

Lack of duty/love = lack of purpose, lack of connection to humanity, morals that exist in a selective container.
(What do you hold sacred… life, community, earth? Without faith in something larger than ourselves why act?)

Empathy Fatigue = social media has turned activism into a game for many and it is easy to lose hope when social media influencers betray values. In a society driven by individualism, those with empathy are carrying a greater burden of care trying to fill the gaps by those who keep their head down and think only of themselves.
(Empathy is the spark of life and where it exists, hope survives.)

I think it’s incredibly important to recognize two things can be true. When talking about any kind of direct action, we must consider accessibility and inclusion as they are foundational values in any context. But we must also understand that the system has trained and indoctrinated many of us into a sense of apathy, into this idea that there’s simply nothing we can do… and this is false. Too often, we hear people rationalize why they can’t get involved and we must reject this mentality.

There are so many amazing ways to get involved in our community and help one another… direct action requires that we begin to take accountability for the problems we’d like to see addressed in our communities instead of waiting for someone else to come and save us. We cannot do that alone, we must build community and we do it through direct action.

I’ve attached three links below, one to the general page of the Direct Action Movement (DAM) out of Australia which and the other a direct link to their Direct Action page. It’s a good resource to check out if one is looking for ways to get more involved through direct action or even within the system. A diversity of tactics is key. The third link is my good friends latest substack post offering an example of a way in which we as individuals can consciously become more ethical consumers!

Next weeks live will cover some of the history of direct action!

DAM - Main Page
DAM - Direct Action Defined
Cheyanne4UBI - Grocery Rescue

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