THE ISSUES
What domains or categories come under the umbrella of brand activism?
While the issues may shift over time, we’ve identified six areas that will be familiar to all: broad categories that capture some of the largest problems facing society:
- Social activism includes areas such as equality – gender, LGBT, race, age, etc. It also includes societal and community issues such as Education, Healthcare, Social Security, Privacy, Consumer Protection, etc.
- Workplace activism is about governance – corporate organization, CEO pay, worker compensation, labor and union relations, supply chain management, governance, etc.
- Political activism covers lobbying, privatization, voting, voting rights, and policy (gerrymandering, campaign finance, etc.)
- Environmental activism deals with conservation, ecocide, land-use, air and water pollution, emission control, environmental laws and policies.
- Economic activism includes wage and tax policies that impact income inequality and redistribution of wealth.
- Legal activism deals with the laws and policies that impact companies, such as tax, citizenship, and employment laws.
Increasingly we will see that businesses will have to address all of these areas simultaneously – some because they choose the right path, others because their customers and employees will choose the path for them. Those who ignore the will of the people in these areas do so at their own peril.
The Issue List
Organizations would do well to map out their position across all these issues – and decide which ones are most relevant:
1) to their employees and customers,
2) to all stakeholders, and
3) to society at large.
Academic Freedom
Adoption
Advertising, children’s
Affirmative Action
Ageism
AIDS/HIV
Air Pollution
Airline Issues
Alcohol Abuse
Animal rights
Anti-Muslim Discrimination and Violence
Anti-Semitism
Arson
Arts Funding and Censorship
At Risk Students: Higher Education
Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder
Autism
Automobile and Highway Safety
Bi-lingualism
Birth Control
Campaign Finance Reform
Cancer
Capital Punishment
Census Issues
Cheating, academic
Child Abuse and Molestation
Child Labor
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Church-State Separation
Civil Liberties
Civil Rights
Coastal Pollution and Wetlands Protection
College Sports
Computer Crime, Hacking
Consumer Debt and Bankruptcy
Corporal Punishment
Corporate Crime
Crime
Criminal Rights
Cults and Alternative Religions
Defense Spending and Preparedness
Deforestation and Logging
Disability Rights
Divorce and Child Support
Domestic Violence
Downsizing, corporate
Drought and aquifer depletion
Drug Abuse
Drugs, War on
Eating Disorders
Energy Dependency
Environmental Justice
Environmentally-induced Illness
Euthanasia
Evolution Education
Extinction and Species Loss: Biota Invasion and Habitat Destruction
Farm crisis
Food and Drug Safety
Foster Care
Gambling
Gangs
Gay and Lesbian Rights
Genetic Engineering
Gentrification
Global Warming
Gun violence and gun control
Hate Crimes
Hate Internet and Radio
Hate Speech
Health Care Reform
Heart Disease
Homelessness
Housing costs
Human experimentation
Identity Theft
Immigration
Immigration, Illegal
Indoor Pollution
Infectious Disease and Epidemics
Infrastructure Deterioration
Intellectual Property Rights
Journalistic Ethics
Judicial Reform
Juvenile Justice
Legal Services for the Poor
Literacy
Mandatory Sentencing
Marijuana
Mass Transit
Media Bias
Media Consolidation
Media Sex and Violence
Medical Malpractice
Medicare and Medicaid Reform
Medicine, alternative
Mental Illness
Migrant Workers
Militia Movement
Minimum and Living Wages
Money Laundering
N(ot) I(n) M(y) B(ackyard) Y(ard)
Native Americans and Government Policy
Natural Disasters and Disaster Relief
Needle Exchange Programs
Noise Pollution
Nuclear Power and Waste
Nuclear Weapons
Obesity
Occupational Safety and Health
Organ and Tissue Transplants
Organic Foods
Organized Crime
Plagiarism
Police Abuse and Corruption
Pornography
Poverty and Wealth
Prison Reform and Prisoner Rights
Privacy
Prostitution
Public Opinion Polling
Racial Profiling
Rape
Recycling and Conservation
Red-lining and loan discrimination
Reproductive Rights and Technology
Rioting
School Standards and Testing
School Violence
School Vouchers and Privatization
Scientific Research Ethics
Secrecy, Governmental
Sex Education
Sexual Harassment
Single Parenting
Social Security Reform
Space Exploration, costs and benefits
Special Education
Stem Cell Research
Stress
Student Rights
Suicide
Superstores v. Main Street
Sweatshops
Tax Reform
Term Limits
Terrorism, Domestic
Terrorism, Foreign
Terrorism, War on
Tobacco and tobacco-related health issues
Tort Reform
Toxic Waste
Traffic Congestion
Unemployment
Unions
Urban Sprawl
Veterans’ Issues
Voluntarism and Volunteering
Voting Issues
Waste Disposal
Water Pollution
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Welfare and welfare reform
Wilderness Protection
Women’s Rights
Xenophobia and Nativism
SOURCE: Library of Congress