Protecting the power to question

In systems that don’t value accountability or a plurality of opinion, civic voice is often one of the first things to come under pressure. Counterpower is silenced, and democratic decline can begin through small, gradual steps that restrict people’s ability to question, organise, and participate.

In 2023, UK civil society space was downgraded to ‘obstructed’. This drew me to investigate ways to protect civic resilience while it’s possible. My Churchill Fellowship led me to learn from places where civic space has reduced, but where activists have found ways to sustain their work and keep building counterpower under pressure.

My Fellowship focused on Central Asia, a region where civil space is shrinking, authoritarianism is increasing, and there is limited support from society at large. Yet activists are still pushing back and finding ways to keep their work alive.

A fundamental question emerged through my research – how is counterpower created?

Critical thinking is an essential part of a functioning civil society. Without a pipeline of new activists, civil society will eventually wither away. But to become an activist, one has to arrive at a point of seeing things differently and wanting to change something. How can this be developed in a context where critical thoughts and debate are not welcome? How can the boundaries of people’s thinking be broadened?

My key finding was that civic participation does not begin only with formal campaigning or activism. It can also grow through everyday opportunities to think critically, encounter different perspectives, express ideas, and practise what I came to think of as “oppositional muscle”: the ability to question, imagine alternatives, and take part in shaping change.

What was particularly striking was the level of negative public opinion towards activism, civil society, and advocacy for change. In shrinking civil society spaces, negative narratives about activists are often used to suppress dissenting voices. Activists are presented as destructive ‘interrupters’, and these narratives seep into the field itself, with many changemakers holding a negative self-image that can contribute to burnout.

To sustain civil society, we need alternative, positive narratives about civic space and the people who work to protect it.

This conclusion led me to an art activism narrative change project with the Centre for Applied Human Rights in 2025, called A0 of Freedom. I co-led a cohort of art activists from Central Asia to create posters communicating the positive value of civic space and democratic engagement. The project showed how simple, engaging language and visual storytelling can help communities imagine a more open, generous, and inclusive future.

On the International Day of Democracy, I think we should recognise the value of systems that have the courage to support people to criticise them, identify gaps, and imagine something better.

That means investing in civic resilience while we can: empowering citizens with critical thinking, building wider public understanding of the value of civic space, and making sure civic participation works for those who are marginalised and not listened to.

My report invites people supporting civic space in the UK, as well as activists themselves, to reflect on what is needed to sustain activist muscle within society. This includes holding a broad view of what counts as civil society, supporting critical thinking programmes, maintaining an inclusive definition of civil society actors, and using positive narratives about the value of civic engagement.

At the heart of my Fellowship was the idea of oppositional thinking. This is not about destruction. It is about protecting the ability to question, participate, and imagine better futures – and recognising that democracy depends on that ability being sustained.

I will be speaking about my report’s findings at a webinar on 15 September, the International Day of Democracy. If you would like to attend, please register on Zoom.