Making It Up

Bent, Emily

doi:10.3167/ghs.2016.090308

Cited by 22 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Both in practice and academic scholarship, the fields of ‘children's participation’ and ‘youth activism’ have been somewhat siloed from each other, leading to gaps in exchange and learning. Notwithstanding differences in conceptual and descriptive language, the literature on ‘youth activism’ is often focused on minors and it offers a very rich analysis of the complex dynamics of age, generation and political power (Bent, 2016; Edell et al, 2016; Gordon, 2007; Kettrey, 2018). Thus, it has a great deal to offer to the field of children's participation, especially given that field's recent interest in ‘children's activism’.…”

Section: Learning From Research On Youth Activismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Questioning children's activism: What is new or old in theory and practice?

Taft

O’Kane²

2023

Children & Society

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This article explores the multiple and shifting meanings of children's activism and addresses some of the potential benefits and disadvantages of framing a given set of practices as children's activism. After recognizing the potential dangers of overuse of the term, we offer our own conceptual understanding of children's activism, focusing on collectivity, challenging expectations and transforming power. Further, in questioning what is new and old in theory and practice on children's activism, we illustrate how scholars and practitioners supporting children's participation can benefit from established literature, strategies and tools from youth activism and broader work on social movements.

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Section: Learning From Research On Youth Activismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Questioning children's activism: What is new or old in theory and practice?

Taft

O’Kane²

2023

Children & Society

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“…Despite these findings, popular neoliberal discourses on girl activists tend to frame them as extraordinary and depict them as enacting social change by themselves (Taft, 2010), thereby erasing their activist and support networks and collective actions (Bent, 2016; Edell et al, 2016). Studies that aim to foreground the significance of networks to girls' activism largely focus on intergenerational ties.…”

Section: Community and Friendship In Youth Activismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Claims of young people's political disengagement have been fervently challenged, with youth and Black feminist scholars shedding light on unconventional political practices (Pickard, 2019) and everyday acts of resistance (Collins, 2000;Mirza, 1997) that young people undertake, for example, at school (Kelly, 2018) and online (Burns & Eaton, 2016). Relatedly, girlhood researchers have critiqued neoliberal discourses that frame activist girls as extraordinary (Taft, 2010), erasing their activist networks and collective actions (Bent, 2016;Edell et al, 2016). Studies of these networks have mostly focused on intergenerational ties, though a few have shown the importance of peer relationships to girls' activism in schools (Kelly, 2018) and social movements (Taft, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Once you bond … you want to create social change’: Interpersonal relationships in youth activism

Assan

2023

Children & Society

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This paper calls for greater attention to the interpersonal aspects of youth activism through a sociological and Black feminist exploration of peer relationships within youth political engagement. Drawing on a multi‐method qualitative research, the work foregrounds the perspectives and experiences of Black girls and girls of colour involved in an anti‐racist Scottish youth work charity. I argue that community and friendship ties cultivated participants' activism. Moreover, participants sought to enact social change by undertaking activist educational practices with their peers. This paper demonstrates how studying young people's peer relationships can engender a better understanding of youth activism and support it.

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“…Bent claims that intergenerational activism involves: "messiness and complexity" (Bent, 2016, p. 117) and that genuine partnerships between young people and adults are required which are committed to "mutual liberation" (Bent, 2016). However, Taft (2015) discovered that many adults within intergenerational activism find it difficult to avoid what she describes as "habituated and hegemonic adult/child relationships" (2015. p. 471) where adults invariably assume power and control.…”

Section: Lessons From Intergenerational Activismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Adults in “Youth Led” Climate Groups: Enabling Empowerment

Elsen

Ord

2021

Front. Polit. Sci.

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This research explores young people's attitudes toward adult involvement within “youth led” youth climate groups. Young people were acutely aware of their marginalization and overall, there was a consensus that adults played a useful role as a resource, as experienced adult activists possessed knowledge that they lacked, or in offering practical support on legal issues or liaising with the police. The attitudes of young people to adult involvement is at times paradoxical in that whilst they were aware of its necessity, adults altered the dynamics of the groups, as there was a “power gap” and that adults' views could take precedence. As a result, on some occasions the young people parted ways from the adults. A continual theme from the research was that young people's involvement in “youth climate groups” gave them a sense of empowerment and they were much more aware of how to effect change, and to some extent they did need the support of adults in this process, often due to their structural disempowerment. The findings suggest that adult involvement was most successful when adults were committed to empowering young people and the researchers suggest that Kirshner's model of “cycles of fading” is a useful framework for adult involvement.

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Making It Up

Cited by 22 publications

References 36 publications

Questioning children's activism: What is new or old in theory and practice?

Questioning children's activism: What is new or old in theory and practice?

‘Once you bond … you want to create social change’: Interpersonal relationships in youth activism

The Role of Adults in “Youth Led” Climate Groups: Enabling Empowerment

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