What are the factors that lead to the disengagement in activism over an individual’s lifetime in the Global South?

In light of the limited social movement literature, this paper aims to hypothesise the reasons why individuals in the Global South disengage from activism, making activism unsustainable over a lifetime. The paper analyses the reasons put forward by scholars to explain initial activist participation, inferring from this that four lenses are vital to utilise in order to understand why disengagement may occur. Through these four lenses: (1) the political economy of activism; (2) the socio-cultural pressures of the Global South; (3) the issue of identity construction and (4) a post-structuralist lens to further examine the importance of the construction of identity and collective action frames, it is demonstrated that particular structural and cultural pressures exist in the Global South which limit individuals from sustaining activism over their lifetime. It is concluded that activism in the Global South should be regarded with caution. Rather than assuming that activism may lead to change, it should be considered more soberly, taking into account the considerable barriers that individuals face in the context of the Global South.