A symbolic action is an action that has no or little practical effect, but symbolizes or signals what the actor wants or believes. The action conveys meaning to the viewers.
Symbolic action may overlap with symbolic speech, such as in the case of flag burning to express hostility or saluting the flag to express patriotism.
In response to intense public criticism, businesses, organizations, and governments may take symbolic actions rather than, or in addition to, directly addressing the identified problems.
Symbolic actions are sometimes derided as slacktivism.
Read more about this topic: Symbol
Famous quotes containing the words symbolic and/or action:
“An ancient bridge, and a more ancient tower,
A farmhouse that is sheltered by its wall,
An acre of stony ground,
Where the symbolic rose can break in flower,
Old ragged elms, old thorns innumerable....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“All real freedom springs from necessity, for it can be gained only through the exercise of the individual will, and that will can be roused to energetic action only by the force of necessity acting upon it from the outside to spur it to effort.”
—Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)