Superpowers to the People! How Young Activists Are Tapping the Civic Imagination

Jenkins, Henry; Shresthova, Sangita; Gamber-Thompson, Liana; Kligler-Vilenchik, Neta

doi:10.7551/mitpress/9970.003.0022

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…As young people enact civic identities, they turn to social media to connect with larger communities, using their voices to contribute to discourse about issues. Literature confirms that for young people to believe in change, they must see themselves as agents of change (Jenkins et al, 2015(Jenkins et al, , 2020. Young activists use popular culture to inspire political change through civic imagination, highlighting instances where youth employ elements from popular culture to express discontent with societal issues.…”

Section: Civic Engagement and Youth Activismmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Digital media's easy news circulation and social network mobilization have broadened youth engagement in participatory politics (Kahne et al, 2016), which empowers young people to use their creativity and voice, assuming roles as content creators (Greenhow, 2011) and utilizing multimodal literacies. Jenkins et al (2015Jenkins et al ( , 2020 define civic imagination as the vision youth embrace for a better tomorrow. As young people enact civic identities, they turn to social media to connect with larger communities, using their voices to contribute to discourse about issues.…”

Section: Civic Engagement and Youth Activismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Bold of them to assume I want to wait until I'm older to do what I love:” One teens' activism and civic engagement online

McDaniel

2024

J Adolescent & Adult Lit

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This paper explores the social media literacies of Dakari, a 16‐year‐old Black teen reader, writer, and activist, within a broader 3‐month multi‐case study on diverse teens' online literacies. The focus is on Dakari's multimodal literacy practices related to social justice activism and civic engagement. The study highlights how social media platforms empower youth, exemplified by teens like Dakari who utilize these spaces to influence culture, practice critical literacies, and establish civic identities. Examining Dakari's case, three key themes emerge: (1) addressing systemic racism, (2) driving change as a content creator, and (3) challenging the idea that one must wait until adulthood to make a difference. The study highlights the transformative potential of youth of Color's social media literacies, suggesting a reimagining of educators' roles to recognize and respect teens' online literacies while fostering youth identity and political engagement. It is imperative to reshape teaching methods for justice and social change in the digital age. This involves supporting student literacy development and acknowledging the timely language and literacies of youth in social media contexts.

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Section: Civic Engagement and Youth Activismmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Civic Engagement and Youth Activismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Bold of them to assume I want to wait until I'm older to do what I love:” One teens' activism and civic engagement online

McDaniel

2024

J Adolescent & Adult Lit

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“…Further, they demonstrate political commitment and mobilize visions of what a better democracy might look like in the future. Scholars in the literature (Jenkins et al, 2015(Jenkins et al, , 2016(Jenkins et al, , 2020 conceptualize civic imagination as a vision youth take up that enables them to consider what a better tomorrow might look like. Online platforms provide a social foundation for young people to engage in civic imagination by using their voices to contribute to discourse about issues that impact themselves and their communities.…”

Section: Civic Engagement and Youth Activismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Online platforms provide a social foundation for young people to engage in civic imagination by using their voices to contribute to discourse about issues that impact themselves and their communities. However, before young people can change the world, they have to be able to imagine what a better world might look like, and see themselves as agents of change (Jenkins et al., 2015, 2016, 2020). Scholars have explored the intersection of civic participation and literacy (Garcia & Mirra, 2021; Mirra & Garcia, 2020; Mirra & Garcia, 2022) to develop speculative civic literacies as a framework for analyzing young people's interactions.…”

Section: Unique Activism Of Bipoc Youthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Culturally Digitized Pedagogy: Informing Theory, Research, and Practice

McDaniel

2024

Reading Research Quarterly

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The article introduces and defines a theory of Culturally Digitized Pedagogy (CDP), an extension of asset pedagogies, namely culturally relevant and culturally sustaining pedagogies. The purpose of this framework is to add a critical lens for examining digital literacies and integrate culturally sustaining pedagogy principles with the reality of youth of Color's online lives. Research and practice need theories and pedagogies—such as youth digital literacies on social media—situating the conversation in new contexts and the possibilities these spaces cultivate for resisting monocultural and monolingual society by centering the asset‐orientation of youths' grassroots activism in online worlds. Thus, this paper introduces a conceptually grounded framework, culturally digitized pedagogy, which presents a pedagogical proposal aligned with contemporary educational practices and supported by current research. First, I describe the central argument of the article, forwarding a framework of culturally digitized pedagogy. Next, I frame culturally digitized pedagogy by discussing advancements it provides in current research. Then, I situate the unique activism of BIPOC youth. Last, I provide pedagogical interventions, grounded in the framework.

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“…Users are encouraged to position themselves as Afifi while creatively renegotiating and imaginatively re-enacting her experiences. In their recollections, users are liberated to play with their "civic imagination" (Jenkins et al, 2016), finding alternatives to their socio-political hardships like the act of smiling instead of being overcome by fear, the possibility to crop out the authority figure from their memes, and even setting Afifi free.…”

Section: Mariam Afifi's Smile Of Resistance: Pov Challenges As Co-con...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Playful Activism: Memetic Performances of Palestinian Resistance in TikTok #Challenges

Cervi

Divon

2023

Social Media + Society

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Palestinians have long been using social media as a tool for activism. Each platform provides unique socio-technological affordances that shape users’ communicative practices as networked publics. Focusing on the video-sharing platform TikTok, which has taken a “serious turn” in recent years, this article examines how Palestinian users performed playful acts of resistance during the escalation of violence between Palestinians and Israelis in May 2021. Applying a multimodal analysis to 500 TikTok videos posted during the conflict under #gazaunderattack, we identify three memetic templates (#challenge)—(1) lip-syncing, (2) duets, and (3) point-of-view—that unfold the ways TikTok’s design and its play-based affordances ignite affective streams of audiovisual content that render playful activism in times of conflict. Driven by TikTok’s culture of imitation and competition, playful activism enables the participation of ordinary users in political emerging events with the help of looping meme videos composed of collaborative, dialogic, and communal socio-technical functions. Playful activism transforms users’ ritualized performances into powerful political instruments on TikTok and makes democratic participation more relatable, tangible, and accessible to various audiences.

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Superpowers to the People! How Young Activists Are Tapping the Civic Imagination

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

“Bold of them to assume I want to wait until I'm older to do what I love:” One teens' activism and civic engagement online

“Bold of them to assume I want to wait until I'm older to do what I love:” One teens' activism and civic engagement online

Toward Culturally Digitized Pedagogy: Informing Theory, Research, and Practice

Playful Activism: Memetic Performances of Palestinian Resistance in TikTok #Challenges

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