Ervin

Ervin, Elizabeth. Public Literacy. Boston: Longman, 2003.

In her 'civic literacy' textbook, Ervin offers a useful, accessible distinction among modes of civic engagement. Volunteering/service="unpaid labor willingly given" (122). Activism transcends service in a number of ways..."concerns itself with injustices rather than problems--that is, things that are unfair as oposed to simply unfortunate" and also..."activism goes to the root of those injustices...while service seeks to help victims of those injustices without necessarily addressing the larger social forces that create their problems" (125). Service often involves meeting basic needs while activism focuses on systemic change: lobbying and such. "Finally, activism needs to be accountable to a constituency, move beyond rants and accusations into the realm of purposeful action, and work with a certain level of efficiency and impact. Otherwise, you are doomed to be a lone crusader toiling away at 'random acts of protest'" (126).

I wonder if Ervin's definitions assume a progressive politics? Many people who "do" service fault individuals, not society, for social problems (some feel the homeless person "fell through the cracks" and missed abundant support systems due to personal deficiency), and for those individuals service is not helping the victim of an injustice but rather helping a deficient person. This is a larger trend in the literature of service learning and critical pedagogy, too, where the scholarship assumes that those with the aforementioned ideology haven't yet achieved critical consciousness. Such individuals are framed as 'not yet converted' and also 'simplistic' and in need of a deeper understanding. The scholarship uses "deeper understanding" euphemistically for "different ideology."