Activism, Rights and Hope: Young People and Their Advocates Mobilising for Social Change

Abstract

This opening chapter of the edited volume, Childhood, Youth and Activism: Demands for Rights and Justice from Young People and Their Advocates, explores activism and advocacy – by and for children and young people. It begins by considering how activism has been understood in the scholarly literature, before making a case for a broad and inclusive conceptualisation of what counts as this particular form of social action. Relatedly, it examines the contours of the relationship between activism and advocacy, drawing attention to the ways in which these concepts converge, an issue that is particularly salient when applied to the categories of child and youth. Themes that emerge in research on child and youth activism are then drawn out and we identify some of the key issues that animate this work across various disciplines. These include observations that young people have long been central to social movements, the role of social media in youth activism, the nature of child and adult relationships in social movement organisations, and some of the issues that arise for young activists in relation to intersectional identities. To this we add debates regarding the politics of recognition, questions of voice and agency, and responsibility and their temporal registers. This discussion also foreshadows themes that emerge in the chapters across this volume. Finally, we offer a reflection on some of the conceptual issues raised when considering the book in its entirety, including those of voice, responsibility for the future, the politics of possibility and hope, and the many different forms and practices that activism and advocacy for and by young people take.

Citation

Wright, K. and McLeod, J. (2023), "Activism, Rights and Hope: Young People and Their Advocates Mobilising for Social Change", Wright, K. and McLeod, J. (Ed.) Childhood, Youth and Activism: Demands for Rights and Justice from Young People and their Advocates (Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, Vol. 33), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1537-46612023001