Compilation of texts reflecting on artistic practices of the 1990s (particularly in the American context) in which political activism was a key part of the work. The ‘activist’ art of artists and collectives like the Guerrilla Girls, Gran Fury, and Group Material, whose ‘agitation for social change’ was constitutive of their artistic work, is examined through project documentation and critical essays. Can be seen as an early history of a certain kind of ‘critical art’ practice, and provides an interesting comparison to another history/trajectory of similar engagements in the European context.