The inner struggle: Co‐optation and moral authenticity within social movements scholarship

Abstract The concept of co‐optation, denoting the appropriation of actors and ideas to support unintended agendas, has been widely employed in social movements studies. Despite its prominence, some scholars argue that the concept introduces ambiguous discussions of authenticity that morally judge activists under categories that are disconnected from their experiences of political participation. Consequently, they choose to separate morality from politics. I propose a meaningful approach to engage with morality and authenticity that contributes to the current understanding of the implications of co‐optation on movements and activists. First, I illustrate that moral concepts and attributions of responsibility are inherent to how activists experience co‐optation. Next, I highlight the limitations of existing theories of authenticity in capturing these moral elements. I then introduce the concept of moral authenticity, which refers to the importance that individuals place on acting in accordance with the type of person they aspire to be. I argue that integrating this notion with co‐optation offers a robust framework for describing and evaluating what authenticity means in the context of movements. This framework offers new insights into the relationship between individuals' personal lives and activism, an emerging field of inquiry in social movement scholarship.