Activism, Visuality, and the Needs of Queer Youth

This piece of comics-based research (CBR) tells the story of young people’s activism and adult lassitude in progressive US communities where the transgender and nonbinary youth had seemed well supported, but were in fact targeted by school staff at two middle-grade schools. While there ensued various forms of protest and activism, adults encouraged children to engage in adult-curated, docile forms, such as making chalk art on the sidewalk in front of the middle school, or writing letters to administration. Many young people refused these forms and instead used “unruly” forms of activism. These included defacing school spaces and other means of disrupting institutional functioning. They saw adult-curated docile activism as a frustratingly inert treatment. Even in such a clear situation, many adults seemed still more uncomfortable with unruly activism, cast as “troublemaking” than with adult transgressions, and refused to see the children as anything other than improper. This comic describes children’s unruly activism in the context of adult violence and adult-curated docile activism as a form of control—and reflects on adult discomfort as a fulcrum of complex power. Reflections on reframing all child “misbehavior” as radical action conclude the comic narrative.

Recent years have seen a growing scholarly interest in youth activism (YA), a phenomenon often viewed as a positive development in response to declining civic and political engagement among young people. However, most of the research focuses on the activists themselves and gives less attention to how YA is perceived by the broader youth population. This article explores the shared and divergent perspectives of young activists and their peers who remain on the sidelines. The article focuses on Poland, a country in which YA is gaining traction. The research involved discussion groups with secondary school students and interviews with prominent young activists in Poland. The study found that activists and non‐activist students shared similar views on key issues like education reform, climate change, human rights and abortion rights. However, they differed in how they defined activism and what forms of activism they deemed acceptable. Activists tended to use a narrower definition, reserving the term for those deeply committed to social or political causes. In contrast, students embraced broader definitions, identifying even small acts of volunteering or awareness‐raising as activism. This difference is important, since how we define YA can shape our understanding and evaluation of youth participation. Additionally, while activists often supported radical tactics, students expressed disapproval of methods they saw as disruptive, like blocking traffic or defacing public spaces. These findings highlight how negative perceptions of YA can potentially discourage wider youth participation.

Activism is a relatively new term, introduced in the mid-70s and referring to the ability to act and make or change history. ‘It reminds us that the world not only is, but is made’, as Gitlin (2003: 5) wrote to a young activist. However, what is implied here is theorized at the level of social change theory, social movement theory, or notions such as resistance, advocacy or protest (Kling and Posner, 1990; Tarrow, 1998; Goodwin and Jasper, 2003). In any case, agency and the makeability of society is central to any tentative definition of activism. As Jordan (2002: 23) points out, ‘activism is generating the future of societies’. Activism, from this perspective, represents the practice of struggling for change and can be fueled by reactionary tendencies and aims, as well as progressive. The online participatory encyclopedia Wikipedia [1] is thus fairly on the spot when it defines activism as an ‘intentional action to bring about social or political change’. It is appropriate to use Wikipedia here, as it is in its own right a form of media activism, driven by the copyleft Creative Commons ideals. Other forms of media activism include electronic advocacy, hacktivism, and culture jamming. But it would be reductive to only consider media activism here, excluding the crucial role of media and communication in activist strategies and processes of social change. Although not the only form of activism, direct action or what Kluge (1982: 212) calls the ‘immediate on-the-spot struggle’, is nevertheless central to every historic struggle for new rights, as well as those for the extension – or the safeguarding – of existing rights (Mellor, 1920; Wallerstein, 1990). Whether it will be through (sometimes but certainly not always violent) protests and demonstrations, strikes, sit-ins, consumer boycotts, or non-violent civil disobedience, direct action is at the core of processes of social change. This, however, does not mean that activism is synonymous with direct action. There are also practices or forms of activism that are less direct action driven and operate more within the dominant political and judicial system. Examples of this are judicial activism – challenging the state and companies through the court, and lobbying – attempting to influence legislators or governments. Processes of social change, activism and social movements, which in a sense can be seen as the institutionalization of particular struggles, cannot be viewed without taking into account the notion of revolution (Lenin, 1929; Robert, 1978; Wood, 1992; McLaren, 2001). The American, French, Russian, and Cuban revolutions have all in their own way radically changed society, not only locally, but well beyond the territories where they took place. Disrupting the vested hierarchies within society and other structures, not in the least economic structures, did, however,

With recent technology and social media, new forms of political activism have become widespread. Young people in particular, have been willing to embrace these new forms of activism. This paper examines new trends in digital activism through qualitative observations of Twitter and Tiktok, and three case studies of young people’s digital activism. In the first case study, Korean pop music (K-pop) fans thwarted police’s attempts to identify protesters by crashing police apps. In the second, they rendered white supremacist hashtags useless, by drowning out the hashtags with their own tweets. Finally, K-pop fans, along with Tiktok users, played a prank which humiliated the Trump reelection campaign. The study expands upon the life cycle effect and generational effects theories of political behavior, and develops a continuum with which to conceptualize and understand the nature of activism. It concludes that digital activism is characteristic of Gen Z, and has real-world impacts. This article pushes back on the notion that digital activism is mere “slacktivism” (low effort token support of a social movement). Instead, it argues that activism evolves along with technology and time, and that digital activism’s real-world impacts can be just as effective as conventional political activism.

The squatters’ movement first appeared in Spain in the 1980s. However, in 2006, a new and differentiated social movement emerged: the pro-housing movement. This movement organised young people from all over the country and therefore consolidated hundreds of platforms of people of different ages affected by foreclosures. Their proposals and demands have meant a roadmap for the 15 M movement. The purpose of this article is to compare two current urban movements involved in noteworthy social battles inside Spain on subjects such as access to housing and spaces for communal sociability. Both the squatters’ movement and housing activism display similarities and confluences, though they stand as two different movements not only in their development and organisational processes, but also in their goals and leadership. Squatting and housing are two different kinds of urban activism that emerged in Spain as a response to the neoliberal urban-renewal regimes and the lack of housing policies. The differences between these two forms of activism will appear in their tactics, identities and political orientations. Thus, the comparison will be useful to characterise two different but complementary forms of contemporary urban activism when faced with urban neoliberalism. Throughout the different cycles, the emergence of new movements destabilised the previously existing squatters’ practices and then translated them into new forms of activism.

Abstract. The article addresses different forms of youth environmental activism, starting from the phenomenon of the ambivalent position held by young people in environmental activism where on one hand they stand up for structural and radical change and, on the other, they cooperate with the authorities or at least make demands of them, thereby giving them legitimacy. The paper focuses on the relationship of young resisting subjectivities towards power and their interplay with strategies and practices and power mechanisms in the field of environmental regulation. The paper addresses various forms of youth environmental activism, especially looking at young dissenting subjectivities’ relationship to power and their intertwining with governing strategies and practices in the environmental field. Focus is given to the ways in which young activists are implicated in, constituted within, and respond to power relations and the exercise of governing, particularly when it comes to environmental issues. It draws on the Foucauldian approach of eco-governmentality and the analytical concept of counter-conduct as an analytical concept to examine how young activists address, co-constitute and potentially subvert or undermine power structures. Using this approach, we reflect on the diversity of agency found in youth activism, which includes an examination of the different forms, actions, strategies and practices associated with this activism. Keywords: youth, environmental activism, political ecology, eco-governmentality, counter-conduct.

Nowadays a lot of research describes most young people as barely interested in politics, expressing little trust in political institutions and far from any forms of institutional political participation. Moreover, most of the engaged youth are involved in forms of participation described as more civic and social than political, weakly ideological, more and more often digital and developed in virtual space, and usually experienced as one among several components of everyday personal lives. The article explores youth activism in political squats because it is a form of participation which, in countertendency, is political and radical in its aims and strategies, explicitly ideologically inspired, strongly rooted in physical places, and often quite central in everyday personal lives. The text is based on research conducted in the city of Turin (Italy) by means of qualitative interviews, participant observation and document analysis. Four main interconnected thematic dimensions are considered: Individuals’ biographical paths and meanings of activism; distinctive lifestyles and cultural sensitivities among the activists; collective narratives about contemporary society and possibilities of social change; patterns of intervention and forms of organization. On the basis of these analyses, the article maintains that this form of activism can be usefully interpreted as a real lifestyle, which has an explicit and intense political sense, but which young activists also connect with a much wider, more differentiated set of meanings.

PROTOCOL: Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) for young people in treatment for non‐opioid drug use

Veganism as political solidarity: Beyond ‘ethical veganism’

New research by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and Empowering People in Care (EPIC) highlights the importance of the combined effects of school experiences and care experiences on the post-school lives of young people leaving care. At the end of February 2025, there were 5,801 children (0–17 years) in care in Ireland. Although being in the care of the state is common among these children and young people, they are not a homogenous group, and their personal experiences and circumstances vary. This exploratory study draws on focus group interviews with a small group of care-experienced young people – those who had enrolled in third level education and those whose third level education was interrupted - as well as a consultation event with key stakeholders. Key Findings For young people in care, attitude to school is often influenced by changes in care placements and school changes, learning difficulties, insufficient support with schoolwork, not feeling as smart as other students, and mental health issues. Multiple care placements and school changes are likely to make their school engagement more challenging. Care placement changes may result in students missing school and finding it hard to catch up afterwards. Making friends was harder for young people who had experienced several school changes. Social workers were a source of consistent support for some care-experienced young people. However, in other cases, such support was found to be wanting, especially when there had been a change in a social worker or when the interaction between the young person and the social worker was limited. Although some of the young people appreciated the support from their aftercare workers (main support workers put in place to meet the needs of a young person who is leaving care services at age 18 years) as they prepared to leave care, several of them were critical of the level of support they received. Preparation for the ‘double transition’ of leaving care and leaving school was a challenging time for many of the care-experienced young people interviewed as they often lack the traditional supportive family structure. Several young people in this study had been undecided about what to do after finishing school. Despite having access to a guidance counsellor, for many, guidance about their post-school options was seen as insufficient or their chosen option was not supported by guidance counsellors and social workers. Young care-experienced people who had a more stable care placement, with fewer school changes and high expectations from their foster parents and social workers, perceived entry into third-level education after finishing school as something that ‘you do’. Eligibility for an aftercare allowance for young people leaving care at 18 years of age is dependent on being on an accredited education course, third level course or training programme. Some young care-experienced people who did not wish to pursue third-level education or did not want to do it straight after finishing school felt pressurised to do so to receive the allowance. Similar to other young people, care-leavers faced multiple challenges related to enrolling in third-level education, including getting used to the new educational setting, finding accommodation, and managing their finances. The situation is likely to be more acute for care-experienced young people who lack the support of their families.

Recent years have been fertile in new forms of collective mobilization and activism. In this context the digital media have been assuming a particularly important role. This article is based on an exploratory project, carried out between 2014 and 2015, which sought to study the use of digital media with the forms of activism and public participation of young people in Portugal. Methodologically this project took a qualitative approach, which sought to articulate a research online and off-line. The conclusions presented derive from an analysis of in-depth interviews carried out with activists belonging to different collective actors.

This paper explores the many forms of online activism, also known as “slacktivism,” such as making small charitable donations, changing a social media profile picture, and using technological knowledge to hack websites. The effectiveness of slacktivism is investigated based on prior research in the field, as the nuances of activism, politics, and effectiveness itself are deconstructed. An argument is posed that any form of activism, whether it is performed online or offline, is valuable and legitimate regardless of its size or reach. It is known that small online acts of participation are strongly correlated with grander offline acts of participation. While it is important to acknowledge the value of offline activism such as participating in a protest or boycott, acts of slacktivism also have an inherent value in and of themselves. Slacktivism should not be written off as an ineffective “feel-good” tool that young people utilize, but rather as a legitimate form of social and political action.

This paper explores the many forms of online activism, also known as “slacktivism,” such as making small charitable donations, changing a social media profile picture, and using technological knowledge to hack websites. The effectiveness of slacktivism is investigated based on prior research in the field, as the nuances of activism, politics, and effectiveness itself are deconstructed. An argument is posed that any form of activism, whether it is performed online or offline, is valuable and legitimate regardless of its size or reach. It is known that small online acts of participation are strongly correlated with grander offline acts of participation. While it is important to acknowledge the value of offline activism such as participating in a protest or boycott, acts of slacktivism also have an inherent value in and of themselves. Slacktivism should not be written off as an ineffective “feel-good” tool that young people utilize, but rather as a legitimate form of social and political action.

Introduction. Formation of political culture of youth in conditions of complex geopolitical situation and multipolarity of political opinions and decisions becomes an urgent task for modern socialization institutions. The choice of the most effective directions and forms of organisation of this process is based on the understanding of the characteristics of political thinking of modern youth. The scientific problem of the article is to explore and identify indicators of characteristics of political thinking of modern youth and defining options of their transformation into life choices of political strategies. The purpose of the research is to assess the characteristics of political thinking and strategies of youth as a basis for forecasting the consequences of political reflection of youth. Materials and Methods. The verification of the research model was based on data from the 2022 sociological study conducted by the International Centre for Sociological Research of the Belgorod State National Research University. The study was conducted using an online survey method and involved 4,215 people, regional youth aged 17–35, divided into age and status groups (students, graduates and working youth). Results. As a scientific result, the characteristics of political thinking are identified and its possible deviations are called additional characteristics. The indicators of young people’s political thinking characteristics are verified, their main accentuations are established, types of dispositions of young people and life planning guidelines in relation to political strategies are considered. Discussion and Conclusion. The results of the study and the analysis revealed problems associated with a risky combination of characteristics of political thinking (criticism and pessimism), which potentiate migration activity, marginalisation and anomie among young people; with the reproduction of inequality in the political socialisation of rural youth; with the unwillingness of the state to support politically ambitious youth. The results of the study contribute to the development of sectoral sociologies such as youth sociology and political sociology. The research materials may be requested by state youth policy management bodies at various levels, state and municipal government bodies, management bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, youth organisations and educational institutions.

Children, Youth and Environments Vol 13, No.1 (Spring 2003) ISSN 1546-2250 Author Response to Youth Participation in Community Planning A Framework for Youth Empowerment Yve Susskind Vashon Island Youth Council Since the publication of Youth Participation in Community Planning, I have completed the research on which the two in-depth case studies were based. Four years ago several teenagers and I, from the small island community in Puget Sound where I live, started a youth-led activist organization where we had the opportunity to test the findings of the research. In that time, several other important pieces of research and theory have been published which help to further ground the ideas which I see emerging. I call the work that we are involved in "youth empowerment." While the term "empowerment" is over-used (and often wrongly and manipulatively used, as when corporations call their teen marketing research empowerment), it does have a meaning which I have found fits well with the community change work that young people and their adult allies are doing: empowerment is both the increase in the capacity of an individual, group or community to create change as well as the process and outcomes of actual change in the conditions that oppress people, resulting in an enduring redistribution of power and resources. Based on my research and the recent work of others, I offer a framework for planners who want to begin involving young people in ways that empower participants, organizations and communities. This framework has three components: the activities of the participants, the characteristics of the settings in which participation takes place, and conditions in the larger community that allow empowered youth participation to take place. As a planner, what can you expect the young people that you work with to do? Whether youth working with planners on community designs, serving on local commissions, or engaging in their own youth-initiated social change efforts, empowerment takes place when young people are targeting significant community needs by addressing root causes of problems, and using multiple and appropriate forms of activism (which could be anything from advocacy, to planning, to civil disobedience and direct action).They are not working in isolation, but are connected to and part of public dialogue and decision making . They are not operating solely on their hunches and preconceived ideas, but are using history to understand and inspire and they are researching their issues to develop sophisticated analyses. Perhaps most challenging for adult allies who are trying to fit youth participation into their existing institutional structures, empowering youth involvement is a continuing and ongoing process, not a one-time event. Recent empirical research has also shown that certain structures are in place where young people's participation in community change processes leads to empowerment. These settings are democratically managed. To the greatest extent possible, given each participant's level of development, skill and knowledge as well as desired role, these projects use cooperative decision making processes that include youth fully and equally; young people initiate, design, manage and implement efforts. Partnership with adults is essential as adults share their knowledge, experience, contacts and access to power. In addition to these structures of 232 leadership and decision making, such projects offer support for young people's personal, social and activist needs. Young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, often do not have access to the personal supports that adult workers take for granted, such as transportation and food. Projects often pay youth stipends, create opportunities for socializing, and, when necessary assist in accessing health or social services. Perhaps most importantly, such projects prioritize learning. They expect that people will learn and they value individual and organizational change that result from people's learning, and deliberately create formal and informal opportunities for learning. It also appears that when all participants are considered learners, and the organization is set up as a learning laboratory, that everyone's knowledge, expertise, and contribution is valued. These programs recognize that for some participants to fully learn and contribute, there must be deliberate investment in the capacity of underserved and under-represented youth. A question of particular interest to urban planners, and one which has not yet been adequately...