Solidarity.

Solidarity is the bedrock of a culture of resistance. People understand that they have a common enemy and a common struggle, and that the success of that struggle depends on mutual support. They understand that no action is perfect, and that the best way to move forward with allies is not through ideological quibbling but through mutual support, feedback, and constructive criticism.

When people absolutely can’t support each other for whatever reason, they at least avoid fighting each other, especially in public. They also understand that acrimonious internal battles can be even more destructive than external repression. Solidarity is the only way to keep a movement from being divided and conquered.

Action and material gains.

Although a culture of resistance can be expressed in art, music, writing, and so on, its ultimate purpose is to give rise to political action. Progress and learning happen only through action. That doesn’t mean every action is perfect. People make mistakes and learn from them. But only through action can resistance movements be forged, trained, and strengthened.

Action keeps people together and helps to ward off horizontal hostility. As Sara Falconer explained to me, practical work makes it easier to get past moments of disagreement. “If people are counting on you, it grounds you. It’s hard to get upset about little things.”

Oppositional culture.

Cultures of resistance are more than just alternative cultures. Cultures of resistance understand that the dominant culture is not only corrupt, but unjust, expansionist, and relentless. They do not abandon struggle to retreat into lonely isolation. They engage with the dominant culture, and with those captured or enthralled by it.

That doesn’t mean that resisters don’t need retreats, havens, or areas of redoubt—we do. Those places may be community centers, farms, or longhouses. But in an oppositional culture, those sanctuaries and autonomous zones are not places to hopelessly await an inevitable defeat. They are bases for resisters to rest and recuperate, to strategize and to organize. And they are bases from which to launch offensives.

Living culture.

The memory of a culture of resistance is not a dusty archive or a stodgy museum exhibit behind glass. It is a living memory, a living culture. Resistance is celebrated and reenacted through a whole spectrum of cultural undertakings like plays, films, zines, books, newspapers, murals, photography, songs, and revival gatherings. Resistance becomes intertwined with the activities of daily life, from sports to food to clothing. (Consider, for example, the resurgence of the sport of hurling in Ireland, the shift from tea to coffee in revolutionary America, and the role of homespun textiles and salt-making in Indian Independence.)

Memory.

In cultures of resistance, people know their history and remember their struggles. The most effective way for an occupier to quash resistance is to eliminate its memory. Once cultural amnesia sets in, an occupation feels like it has lasted forever. Resistance feels both pointless and unprecedented. But that amnesia can be reversed, even after a very long time.

In a culture of resistance, struggles are treasured even if they fall short of victory. If a culture of resistance is the soil, even unsuccessful campaigns can enrich that soil—like compost—once they have been integrated into it. (And, like building soil, establishing a culture of resistance can be a long and slow process.)

100 years later, 'The Great Gatsby' still speaks to the troubled dream of America

By Maureen Corrigan

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/08/nx-s1-5352324/great-gatsby-f-scott-fitzgerald