Youth Attitudes and Participation in Climate Protest: An International Cities Comparison Frontiers in Political Science Special Issue: Youth Activism in Environmental Politics

Abstract

This article examines youth participation the school climate strikes of 2018 and 2019 (also known as #Fridays4Future), through an exploratory study conducted in seven diverse cities. Despite the international nature of the climate strikes, we know little about the factors that influenced youth participation in these protests beyond the global North. This matters because youth of the global South are disproportionately impacted by climate change and there is growing concern that the climate movement is dominated by narratives that marginalize the voices and priorities of Indigenous communities and people of color. In this context, the exploratory research reported here aimed to compare the attitudes of climate protesters (n = 314) and their non-protester peers (n = 1,217), in diverse city samples drawn from a wider study of children and youth aged 12–24 years, living in Christchurch (New Zealand); Dhaka (Bangladesh); Lambeth, London (United Kingdom); Makhanda (South Africa); New Delhi (India); São Paulo (Brazil); and Yokohama (Japan). Using cross-sectional data (N = 1,531) and binary logistic regression models, researchers examined three common explanations for youth participation in protest: availability (biographical and structural), political engagement (reported individual and collective efficacy of strikers and non-strikers), and self-reported biospheric values amongst participants. Results indicate that even in diverse city samples, structural availability (civic skills and organizational membership) predicted strike participation across city samples, but not political engagement (self-efficacy and collective efficacy). Youth who reported that ‘living in harmony with nature and animals’ was important for their wellbeing, were also more likely to strike than their peers. Descriptive statistics indicated that the majority (85 percent) of all protestors in this study agreed climate change was a serious issue and a startling 65 percent said that they think about climate change “all the time”. Reported rates of youth climate protest participation varied across city samples as did the extent to which participants reported having friends take part or expecting climate change to have a personal impact. While the study is exploratory, it points to the need for more extensive research to understand the diversity of youth participation in ‘global climate strikes’.

“El viento arrollador”: la irrupción de las jóvenes en la protesta del Ni Una Menos de Argentina

“…En los movimientos sociales, las investigaciones recientes respecto del papel de las cohortes más jóvenes en la protesta han mostrado cómo las nuevas generaciones traen a los movimientos sociales y, a la política en general, identidades e intereses propios (Earl et al, 2017;Vommaro, 2014;Weiss, 2020). Los estudios señalan que las transformaciones promovidas por las juventudes se observan en los movimientos feministas (Molyneux et al, 2020), en el movimiento pacifista, en los reclamos por el cambio climático (Prendergast et al, 2021) y en las protestas por los derechos civiles (Honwana, 2019), así como en los movimientos por la justicia económica y social (Rossi, 2009;Lam-Knott & Cheng, 2020). Un concepto fundamental que explica el poder transformador de la juventud es la noción de unidad generacional.…”

“…En concreto, esto se observa en la ampliación del concepto de "disponibilidad": en lugar de señalar la "ausencia" de restricciones, la investigación sobre la disponibilidad "estructural" aborda la presencia de ciertos fenómenos de la estructura social juvenil que incentivan su participación social y política. La disponibilidad estructural de las personas jóvenes se entiende como las destrezas cívicas y las múltiples pertenencias a organizaciones formales e informales, así como también la circulación por redes de sociabilidad de diverso tipo (Prendergast et al, 2021). También conocido como "raconto microestructural del reclutamiento" en la revisión de Passy (2001), el concepto denota la presencia de redes interpersonales que facilitan la invitación a la movilización y el activismo, al instar e incluso validar la participación en protestas sociales (Schussman & Soule, 2005).…”

Multilevel Evidence for the Parent-Adolescent Dyadic Effect of Familiarity With Climate Change on Pro-Environmental Behaviors in 14 Societies: Moderating Effects of Societal Power Distance and Individualism

“…They actively show their environmental concern in response to environmental issues (e.g., Fridays for the future movement of young people; Wallis & Loy, 2021). Their great influence on sustainable development has been widely acknowledged (Prendergast et al, 2021). Therefore, understanding their role in environmental issues may bring insights into how to mobilize the public to engage in environmental protection.…”

Youth Attitudes to Nature and Climate Change: Evidence From European Social Survey

“…Younger generations still insufficiently integrated into science-policy and decision-making arenas in general (Lim et al, 2017;Rana et al, 2020). As Lee et al (2020) Prendergast et al (2021) analysed youth attitudes and participation in climate protests as it shows some attitude to changing environment. Their international research revealed that youth who agreed with the statement 'living in harmony with nature and animals'it was important for their wellbeing, were also more likely to strike than their peers.…”

“…Moreover even 85 percent of all young protestors in this study agreed that climate change was a serious issue. The research explored that youth engaging in climate action should be analysed both following local contexts and international comparisons, it effects their perceptions on climate change solutions and environmental concerns (Martyn and Dimitra, 2019;Prendergast et al, 2021). Other researchers focused on territorial differences of wellbeing and climate change interface (Vaznonienė and Vaznonis, 2021), analysed people's socioeconomic characteristics and their perception of nature as a value (Wojewódzka-Wiewiórska et al, 2022) or nature as positive factor for youth development (Gifford and Nilsson, 2014;Bowers et al (2021), etc.…”