Full Results of Mother Jones’ 2008 Student Activism Survey

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WHAT’S ACTIVISM ANYWAY?

 

Students

Nonstudents

Giving spare change to the homeless

34%

30%

Taking “Ending Poverty 101” instead of “Intro to I-Banking”

49%

46%

Thrifting

52%

49%

Being a vegetarian

57%

46%

Buying organic

63%

59%

Taking public transit

70%

68%

Recycling

78%

75%

Boycotting Wal-Mart

85%

83%

Buying fair trade/non-sweatshop labor

85%

83%

 

ARE STUDENTS MORE OR LESS ENGAGED NOW THAN IN THE 60’S?

 

Students

Nonstudents

More

14%

16%

Less

86%

84%

 

WHERE’S THE FUTURE OF ACTIVISM?

Where's the future of activism?

Source: 2008 Mother Jones Student Activism Survey; 1,353 total respondents (678 students, 675 nonstudents)

 

MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR STUDENTS

MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR NONSTUDENTS

 

Former Students

Ever been arrested for a cause?

Ever been arrested for a cause?

Where is student activism more important?

Where is student activism more important?

What’s more important?

What's more important?

What’s the lamest form of activism?

What's the lamest form of activism?

What do you wish you’d spent more time on?

What do you wish you'd spent more time on?

 

Current Students

Ever been arrested for a cause?

Ever been arrested for a cause?

Where is student activism most important?

Where is student activism most important?

What’s more important?

What's more important?

What’s the lamest form of activism?

What's the lamest form of activism?

2D Charts by Jeff Berlin

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Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

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“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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