A rhetorical perspective on youth environmental activism

Abstract

As “alternative” [Maeseele, 2009] science communicators, young people (of pre-voting age) have an important role to play in the climate communication arena. Youth have access to rhetorical resources associated with evidence-based and emotional appeals. However, they are challenged by political, media and public entities on their ability to effectively engage with politicised scientific issues. Their credibility and authority to speak on climate issues are challenged. This piece takes a rhetorical lens to a current youth climate change advocacy case study, the ‘School Strike for Climate’. I argue that Australian youth are criticised for being politically inexperienced in attempts to silence them from speaking out about Australian climate change policy. Implications for science communicators working in the climate change space, and the ‘Strike’ participants themselves are discussed.

Motivators of Participation and Non-Participation in Youth Environmental Protests

“…For those wishing to engage, lack of youth voice to parliament may lead to disengagement from the system (Manning and Edwards, 2014). However, rhetorically speaking, political figures use dismissive language in order to belittle the agency of young people attending the Strikes (Feldman, 2020), such as implying young people are only attending a Strike to skip school. But this rhetorical engagement can also be seen as a positive, as reflected in comments from 18-year-old Michael, who used political acknowledgement of the Strike as a sign of movement impact.…”

“…Youth are often dismissed as inexperienced in adult-driven political systems, therefore unable to reliably engage with its structures (Bessant, 2020). Young people participating in the School Strike movement are no different, heavily criticized on their inexperience with climate policy (Feldman, 2020) and therefore their ability to engage with issues brought about by the movement. It is no wonder, therefore, that young people are often pessimistic about their ability to make change in political systems, and can have low confidence in specific political repertoires such as protest events (Manning and Ryan, 2004).…”

“…When asked what may increase this efficacy, young people reported that meaningful consultation with adults (through youth advisory councils and similar) would be a promising pathway to more meaningful and impactful engagement with polity (Manning and Ryan, 2004), suggesting that current access points for young people are lacking in impact. Given that political engagement and experience is still seen as a top-down transfer of knowledge from adults to youth (Andersson, 2015;Feldman, 2020), this exclusion from climate politics may be pushing young people away from engaging with the School Strike.…”

The political effects of emergency frames in sustainability

“…Furthermore, there have been struggles over empowerment. For example, in Australia, the credibility and authority of 'youth' has been challenged by actors holding formal authority (for example, the prime minister) 78 .…”

Reimagining African Women Youth Climate Activism: The Case of Vanessa Nakate

“…Similarly, a study in Australia showed how powerful ideas of childhood are deployed to undermine youth climate activism. For example, Australian conservative commentators on climate strikes positioned youth activists as lacking knowledge, lacking civic experience, and in need of top-down help from adults, thus removing their agency to act in political ways that deviate from ideas of childhood innocence [6]. Similarly, a Canadian study analysed ideas of youth climate activism in newspaper editorials.…”