Communication for social change behind the scenes: the strategic role of silence in human rights activism

In contemporary multipolar political and cultural environments, we are witnessing the intensification of discourses that emphasize irreducible differences between “us” and “them.” This scenario is further amplified by online social media and both explicit and implicit hate speech. By examining the intersections of strategic silence and activism for social change within the field of human rights, this chapter establishes connections between strategic communication and communication for development and social change. To understand how different forms of insubordinate silences are articulated in the communication practices of human rights activists, an ethnographic study was conducted over six months (from January to June 2021) with two Portuguese human rights organizations. The findings demonstrate how ‘keeping silent’ can serve as a critical practice for social change, offering alternative ways of being, acting, resisting, and disrupting. Silence assumes a strategic role in human rights activism when its power, impacts, and meanings in everyday decisions and interactions are recognized, allowing it to transcend the rigid boundaries between speech and silence.