Mapping Book Banning Resistance: Visualizing Acts of Activism to Preserve Students' Right to Read

As censorship efforts intensify across the United States, educators, librarians, and literary advocates are increasingly engaging in acts of resistance to protect students' right to read. This qualitative study examined acts of resistance reported in digital journalism. We asked: (1) What acts of resistance against book banning are reported in digital journalism, and who is enacting those acts of resistance? (2) How might these acts of resistance be visually mapped and linked? and (3) What does a consideration of these mapped and linked acts of resistance mean for educators and advocates dedicated to preserving and fostering young people's right to read? Using an abductive method based on Brinkmann's notion of stumble data, we analyzed 68 articles detailing 115 resistance acts. Drawing from critical pedagogy, viral justice, and visual theories, we created six graphic maps highlighting nine core acts of resistance and 22 engaged actors. Our key findings include an overwhelming number of anti-censorship advocacy groups as well as universally aligned youth voices in favor of access to books and young people's right to read when compared to organizations working to ban books. Our maps also present a visual summary of the many ways that educators and literary advocates resist censorship and book-banning attempts. We argue that mapping resistance offers not only a powerful research method but also a pedagogical practice: one that can be used to help teacher candidates and literacy scholars critically examine contemporary censorship, develop tools for principled resistance, and inspire critical action.