Uptakes

This week we read about uptakes in genres, specifically focusing on the uptakes that altered the reception of the #ChallengeAccepted trend. As I understand it, Nish described uptakes as ways that a communication is received that are often influenced by previous knowledge and affect how the communication is received by the audience. She focused on two types of uptakes - sticky uptakes and counteruptakes. Sticky uptakes are connotations attributed to the communication that may not relate to the intended meaning and counteruptakes are alternative ways of interacting with the communication that can also alter its meaning.

I had a difficult time relating the concept of sticky uptakes to the environmental justice movement. Because of the broad topics EJ covers - like housing, air quality, water access, and resources - the movement will always be intertwined with other activist topics that carry their own set of voices, motivations, and challenges. In a way, these could be the sticky uptakes that confuse the meaning of EJ actions. In addition, much like the #ChallengeAccepted trend was interwoven with concepts of misogyny, the environmental justice movement is often challenged by racist ideologies that attempt to block EJ activism.

Similarly, I had difficulty pinpointing a specific counteruptake that relates to the environmental justice movement. Because the movement, by nature, correlates to other activist topics, there is a risk for counteruptakes that blast their topic to the detriment of the EJ action. However, from everything I've read of the movement, other activist groups often work well with EJ actions with all involved collaborating to move toward similar goals.