English Rewind - News Words: Activist

???? What is an activist - and what is activism? In this archive episode of News Words we guide you through some real English language news stories featuring these two words to improve your English news vocabulary knowledge AND practise your English listening. What is your attitude to activism? If you really wanted to change something, what would you do? Tell us what activism means to you! ????????????

Uses of 'activist' and 'activism':
✔️ activism - acting for a cause you believe in
✔️ peace activist - someone who campaigns/protests/demonstrates against war in general or, as in the talk, against a particular conflict
✔️ environmental activists - people who actively support the protection of the environment (i.e. the natural surroundings of a living organism)
✔️ radical activist - someone who either believes in and defends a major change, or shows their support for a particular cause using some extreme measures
✔️ human rights activist - someone who strongly believes in and acts in support of the idea that each person should automatically have certain basic rights, such as justice, equality and the freedom to say what they think
✔️ 'desperate activists' - when a person or a group of people back a particular cause through campaigning/protesting/demonstrating (because they have run out of other methods of convincing other people to support their cause)

Examples from the talk:
???? Two peace activists have admitted breaking into an RAF base to try to stop B-52 bombers taking off for Iraq.
???? Police in Nepal have arrested around 30 student activists protesting against King Gyanendra's seizure of power in February.
???? The Roman Catholic Church and environmental activists are trying to encourage worshippers at today's Palm Sunday celebrations to help save the yellow-eared parrot in Colombia.
???? In the last few days radical jobless activists have protested outside Shell service stations.
???? One of Cuba's best known activists, Oswald Paya, told the BBC the world had a moral duty to help the dissidents.
???? The leader of the Anglican Communion, Dr Rowan Williams, has called on the Church's senior clerics to put aside their differences over homosexuality for the sake of the Church as a whole. He criticised what he called 'the desperate activism' by which some were pursuing their aims.

Image: Getty
English Rewind is a collection of programmes from the BBC Learning English archive. This episode of News Words was first published on the BBC Learning English website in November 2009.

Related videos on our YouTube channel:
???? News Review - Pegasus: activists 'spied on' ???? https://youtu.be/DFP01xwW2-0
???? News Review - Iran protests ???? https://youtu.be/3h517dyr0jU
???? 6 Minute Grammar - How to use the active and passive voice ???? https://youtu.be/38QqDrckyxM

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