Abstract

Personal sustainability in social movements is a huge and complex topic, but one which is immediately important to many participants, both in terms of keeping going themselves and of supporting their fellow-activists and preventing burnout. It is also of importance to researchers attempting to understand how movements continue in the face of everything that is thrown at their participants. This paper represents some extended notes attempting to rethink, and restructure, a problematic whose contours are extremely slippery. It may, I hope, also be of some use to activists who are facing these problems but not (currently) overwhelmed by them; for those who are in a crisis situation or trying to help others in crisis, the Activist Trauma site (http://www.activisttrauma. net) is a good starting-point.