Activism is an association of social science enthusiast and was established primarily in the form of a social science club on 19th March 2016. It was initiated by a small group of research scholars mainly from the discipline of Political Science. It is basically a research-based organization to help people providing research-based advisory and assistance to transcend their functional problems of everyday life. The very purpose is to produce a research-based in-depth understanding of the problem and to make them aware of the limitations of common sense perception which often act as obstacles to the enriching experience of practical life. 

Immediate prior to its inception, the founder members of the small group conducted a survey on the problems of the tribal people at Ayodha hills in the Purulia District of West Bengal. It was realized from the study that a mere guarantee of relatively decent structural conditions could not resolve some of the chronic problems of everyday life where functional lifestyle and praxis matter to a considerable extent. After thoughtful discussions, the group of scholars was convinced that the problems of functional life are not solely limited to the tribals but it is an all-pervasive phenomenon embedded in the everyday activities of the larger population in general. Hence, to understand and uncover the functional problems and their possible transcendence in a definite context Activism Social Science Club was instituted and began its journey with a pilot survey on the “Problems of Urban Mothers” in and around Kolkata, Inspired by the result of the survey, a few case studies in the same locality were undertaken specifically on “The Problems of Women Head of the Family” in the last part of 2016. However, after doing a year-long pilot exercise at the field level Activism decided to conduct independent case studies on different problems and issues of everyday life from 2017. Followingly, a handful number of cases were registered with the process of seeking research-based interventions to their functional problems. To date, the team has done a number of case studies in this direction and most of them were recorded with a positive impact of different degrees to manage their problems effectively with the help of research. 

In May 2018, Activism got its legitimacy and Activism Foundation for Social Research and Action was born as a non-profit Public Charitable Trust under the Indian Charitable Trust Act 1882. Henceforth, Activism Social Science Club started functioning as a unit of the Activism Foundation, and both the body often organizes different programs and events together to uphold the common spirit of doing charity through knowledge.