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The academic activist Paradox is a sociological model which is used to explain the contention between activists and academics in social movements and sociopolitical spheres. The model was developed by David Gaylard in 2015 at the University of Waikato Post-Graduate Conference.

The Academic Activist Paradox (AAP) begins with activists on one side of a spectrum and academics on the other, the two are separated by their distinctions within social movements and sociopolitical spheres, these distinctions are based on action and theory - action representing activists and theory representing academics. The paradox between both parties begins by examining the nature of both parties work. Academic's work for the most part (with the exception of field research) is regarded by society at large as work which has little to no relevance. A causation of this is the disconnection between seemingly tangible and intangible work, academic work is seen to be intangible, it doesn't manifest itself in everyday life which leaves it hard for the public to see its relevance and application. This is one of the underlying factors which generate a disregard to academics.

The sweet spot.

The sweet spot of change is combining the activist with the academic, from left to right, and the top down with the bottom up from north to south to create a multi faceted power structure and individual in the middle. Theoretically, the perfect activist would be someone one who is educated in the area of their social movement and who has the confidence to develop ideas and acting within the movement. The power structure would be a combination of one which encourages the debate of ideas and frameworks through a democratic space, however still retains an authoritarian command to delegate which ideas have priority over others.


 * Created first paragraphDavimusPrime (talk) 12:27, 23 October 2015 (UTC)