Radical Radix: Uprooting Empire Through Joyful Militancy

This thesis researches how joy is sustained in activist praxis through the concept of joyful militancy, a form of collective resistance grounded in affect and relationality. It draws on militant research, specifically focus group discussions with activists, to explore how joy emerges not despite grief or anger but through them in good compositions. Using the metaphor of a garden, I conceptualize the conditions for joyful militancy as rich soil (structure and openness), rain (grief and anger), and sunlight (care and relational practices). This research reveals that joy is a necessary and cultivated condition that allows movements to be sustainable. Against the backdrop of rigid radicalism (purity, rigid ideological correctness, and burnout) and the isolating logic of Empire, joy becomes a form of disobedience that holds people together and keeps them coming back. Rather than providing a blueprint, this thesis offers an invitation to think with others about how we resist together, and how we can grow and sustain something we can love.