Youth Agency Research Articles

Authoritarian states and their new generation(s) diasporas: an introduction

ABSTRACT This special issue explores the complex dynamics between authoritarian states and their new generation(s) diasporas. It examines the strategies employed by non-democratic regimes to engage with and control their diaspora populations, particularly focusing on the youth and subsequent generations who have grown up outside their ancestral homelands. The contributions highlight the various approaches of a wide range of cases, including China, North Korea, Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea, Egypt, Turkey and Bosnia and Hercegovina. This introduction situates the special issue in the broader literature on state-diaspora relations, elaborates on key concepts and presents a summary of the main conclusions from the special issue as a whole. It notes the variation between states that explicitly and relatively successfully engage their new generation(s) diaspora and those that encounter difficulties doing so, and draws attention to the agency of diaspora youth in shaping their relationships with authoritarian or less-democratic homeland states.

Reconceptualizing the youth and waithood notions: African youth agency and rural livelihoods in artisanal and small-scale mining

This paper seeks to revisit the notion that Africa's youth are caught up in waithood by providing empirical data and critical analysis of the perspectives of youth engaged in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews from multiple episodes of research in Ghana, we offer seven (7) key findings to argue that the situation of African youth is far more complex and nuanced than the simple portrayal that they are stuck in waithood – i.e. unable to enter the formal labor market to attain respectful adulthood. Thus, our findings offer three (3) perspectives which reflect better the reality of the African youth, enabling us to reconceptualize waithood experiences: Time-bound waithood or waithood temporality, Survival-hood, and Ensnared waithood. The time-bound waithood or waithood temporality reflects a situation where the youth choose to participate in informal sector activities like ASM as a temporal livelihood strategy or as a transition process while negotiating access to well-paid jobs in the formal sector that offer job security. The survival-hood is where youth assert their individual and collective agency to participate in informal sector jobs (in this case, ASM operations) as a survival mechanism, reflecting different livelihood possibilities and complementarities. The ensnared waithood reflects the situation where some youths are caught up in a web of their socialization process or enculturation which implants in their minds that good jobs are those of formal sector or salaried employment which are primarily based in the urban economy. From these perspectives, we argue that waithood is both a process (i.e. transitional) and an end in itself depending on the situation in which the youth perceive formal labor jobs and the willingness to utilize their agency to create their own work or secure informal sector jobs amidst structural constraints or neoliberal policies inhibiting employment for young people in the formal labor market. Based on our findings, we develop a Youth agency outcome framework(YAOF) which highlights how structural constraints (such as government policies, neoliberal policies, social norms and regulations within an economic sector) serve as an impediment to formal sector employment for tertiary graduates (educated youths). The framework further highlights how structural constraints trigger the utilization of capital assets in determining and influencing youth agency in the exploration and subsequent participation in informal sector jobs like ASM and the associated outcomes – such as financial independence, sustainable income, economic support for family members, marriage, and household formation – for the youths involved in the economic activity. Our findings provide critical implications for youth employment policies, interventions, and programs in Africa.

The Hidden Forces Driving Youth Participation in Climate Policy Among Korean Youth

Objective: This research explores the determinants influencing youth engagement in climate change policy, focusing on the roles of awareness, concern, self-efficacy, attitudes, and personal norms in shaping policy participation intentions. Additionally, it examines the mediating effects of concern, efficacy, attitudes, and personal norms within the relationship between awareness and intention. Theoretical Framework: The research framework integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior, Risk Perception Theory, and Social Cognitive Theory, providing a multi-faceted perspective on the motivations for youth climate policy participation. Method: Applying structural equation modeling (SEM) with a phantom model approach, this study analyzes survey data from 600 adolescents aged 14 to 19. The phantom model approach enables a precise evaluation of both direct and indirect pathways, allowing for the re-specification of indirect effects as total effects in independent models, yielding robust estimates and confidence intervals across mediation pathways. Results and Discussion: The findings indicate that awareness alone does not directly catalyze intentions to participate. Instead, significant indirect effects are observed, with concern, efficacy, attitudes, and personal norms acting as critical mediators. This intricate interaction highlights the importance of fostering these psychological dimensions to facilitate youth engagement in climate policy efforts. Research Implications: The study’s outcomes offer actionable insights for the development of climate education and policy initiatives that bolster youth agency. By cultivating self-efficacy and constructive attitudes, these programs may enhance youth contributions to climate governance. Originality/Value: This study advances understanding of youth engagement in climate policy by examining a comprehensive model in which awareness shapes intentions indirectly through mediators such as concern, efficacy, attitudes, and personal norms. Addressing gaps left by prior studies, it clarifies the psychological mechanisms that drive youth participation, highlighting the essential role of these factors in empowering meaningful youth involvement in climate governance.

Moratorium? Youth experiences of waiting on South Africa’s ‘platinum belt’

ABSTRACT The extraction of platinum group metals in South Africa's rural territories has increased the hope for development and employment opportunities among local residents. However, despite the increase in mining activities over the past decades, poverty and unemployment persist. Drawing on detailed ethnographic research conducted in a platinum-rich community on South Africa's rural ‘platinum belt' – the Bafokeng – this article explores the experiences of unemployment and waiting among the local youth. Recent studies have highlighted the active agency of unemployed youth in devising and deploying strategies to engage with local and outside structural forces of waiting. The analysis, however, reveals the complex power relations in the local social landscape. The article shows that deliberate actions by platinum mining corporates working in cahoots with the traditional authorities (the chiefs) in the Bafokeng community result in the ‘social moratorium’ of the youth.

(Dis)connected by design? Using participatory citizen science to uncover environmental determinants of social connectedness for youth in under-resourced neighbourhoods

BackgroundSocial isolation and loneliness are a growing public health concern. Inadequacies in neighbourhood social infrastructure can undermine social connectedness, particularly for youth, who are dependent on their local environments yet often marginalized from public spaces and city planning. Integrating citizen science with participatory action research, the Youth.hood study set out to explore how neighbourhood built environments help or hinder social connectedness from the understudied perspective of youth in under-resourced and racialized communities.MethodsYouth (n = 42) from three neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Canada were recruited to: (1) Assess environmental assets and barriers to connectedness in their neighbourhoods using a digital photovoice app; (2) Analyze and prioritize their collective data into themes; and (3) Design and advocate for environmental improvements through a participatory workshop and forum with residents, city planners, and elected officials. Data on participant characteristics and neighbourhood perceptions were collected via an online survey and analyzed descriptively. Participatory analysis was conducted with youth using methods from thematic analysis, photovoice, and design thinking.ResultsYouth captured 227 environmental features impacting their connectedness. The most frequently reported assets were parks and nature (n = 39, 17%), including formal and informal green spaces, and food outlets (n = 25, 11%). Top barriers included poor neighbourhood aesthetics (n = 14, 6%) and inadequate streets and sidewalks (n = 14, 6%). Thematic analysis with youth underscored four themes: (1) Connecting through mobility: The fun and functionality of getting around without a car; (2) The power of aesthetics: Mediating connections to people and place; (3) Retreating to connect: Seeking out social and restorative spaces for all; and (4) Under-resourced, not under-valued: Uncovering assets for sociocultural connection. Youth described their local environments as affording (or denying) opportunities for physical, emotional, and cultural connection at both an individual and community level.ConclusionOur findings extend evidence on key environmental determinants of social connectedness for youth, while highlighting the potential of community design to support multiple dimensions of healthy social development. Additionally, this work demonstrates the resilience and agency of youth in under-resourced settings, and underscores the importance of honouring assets, co-production, and intergenerational planning when working to advance healthy, connected, and youthful cities.

Shades of party activism: understanding ZANU-PF youth activists

This article contributes to debates on authoritarian renewal and youth party activism in Africa, based on case study research with youth who are active in the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). While youth activism and electoral politics is a subject of rich scholarship, there is limited knowledge on the motivations and agency of the party youth of hegemonic ruling parties. The study engaged a diverse group of ZANU-PF youth to understand their journeys into party activism, how they negotiate the discourses and authoritarian practices promoted by ZANU-PF, and their political agency on behalf of and within the party. The article analyses the everyday ways through which youth activists take part in ZANU-PF structures and activities, noting the dimensions of class and gender. The findings demonstrate the existing ‘shades in activism’, with some youth being born into the party and others joining in search of opportunities, but this does not exclude the possibility of some wanting to promote the prosperity of others. Some self-proclaimed loyalists embrace ZANU-PF narratives, while most are highly critical of the ruling party. We argue that everyday forms of youth activism may constitute authoritarianism from below. Whether ‘at the front’ or ‘at the back’, all ZANU-PF youth contribute to the reproduction of the systems and networks of ZANU-PF, and thus authoritarian renewal, especially because the room for contestation and change from within the ruling party is limited.

Pleasure-inclusive sex education, sexual agency and sexual wellbeing in youth: A scoping review

Abstract Background A recent review study showed that pleasure-inclusive sex education can contribute to reducing sexual health risks such as unwanted pregnancy and STIs (Zaneva et al., 2022). Pleasure-inclusive sex education could also contribute to other measures of sexual wellbeing. In this study, we review the literature on associations between pleasure-incorporating sex education and sexual agency (including related concepts such as autonomy) and sexual wellbeing (part 1), and between sexual agency and sexual wellbeing (part 2). Methods We searched in 5 scientific databases using a wide scope of variables related to pleasure inclusive sex education, sexual agency, and various outcomes of sexual wellbeing, focusing on the last 2 decades. Forty-six articles were selected. Results In part 1 of the review we found that all studies reported associations between pleasure-based sex education and sexual agency or sexual wellbeing, but the literature is characterized by limitations and did not permit conclusions about the role of an added benefit of the pleasure component. In part 2 of the review study, we found positive associations between sexual agency (and related variables) and sexual wellbeing (including decreased levels of (re-)victimization). Conclusions Sexual agency may be related to increased sexual wellbeing, but it is still largely unclear whether pleasure-inclusive sex education can significantly contribute to this. There is a great need for high quality research, using innovative evaluation designs, taking into account the role of other important sources of sex education and other contextual factors. Key messages • A lot of work has been done, but the evidence that pleasure in sex ed ‘works’ for sexual wellbeing, is limited and indirect. • Great need for high quality research using novel and more realistic evaluation approaches.

Introduction to the Special Issue: The Lives (and Futures) of Black Children and Youth

Abstract As social science scholarship on Black children and youth continues to expand and to explore their experiences, there remains a need to investigate how families, communities, relationships, and social institutions impact their experiences. The theme for this special issue is inspired in part by our consideration of Black children’s and youths’ present realities and their futures. The editors of this volume are interested in creating space to analyze and theorize the radical possibilities for Black children to flourish in a world that typically ignores, marginalizes, and dismisses their plights and their promise. Privileging the agency of Black youth, the articles in this special issue provide nuanced accounts of how they make sense of many aspects of their lives and futures.

Youth Services: Culture, Community, & Learning

The ALISE Youth Services Special Interest Group (SIG) presents a panel exploring the ways in which youth services in libraries empower youth and families and how youth programs address learning and incorporate culturally-relevant approaches. The session will begin with presentations of papers (15 minutes each) plus a themed question and answer portion to conclude. Attendees will be able to share their own experiences and work in progress on these topics in the discussion. Cahill, Joo, Minniear, LeFebvre, & Garcia will present “Math Talk in Public Library Virtual Storytime Programs.” This work presents an analysis of mathematics content integrated in public library virtual storytime programs. Cahill et al. characterize the mathematics environment of public library virtual storytime programs, discuss whether there are differences in the virtual storytime mathematics environment based on the population density of the community the library serves (i.e. urban, suburban, town, rural) and on library size. Preliminary findings suggest substantial differences in the amount of mathematics-related talk across virtual storytime programming for children. Kim, Choi, & Kang will present “Family Makers: A Culturally Relevant Online Engineering Programming for Youth Through Research-Practice Partnership with Public Library Professionals.” This work details research-practice partnership with seven rural libraries across the U.S using co-design and culturally-relevant pedagogy to develop the Family Makers program and strengthen library staff to deliver engineering learning opportunities. Kim et al. will discuss the importance of leveraging families’ cultural practices of making and forms of everyday sensemaking to design for family learning in engineering and highlight that rural library staff can support family learning in engineering by drawing on their personal experiences, relational knowledge, and non-engineering expertise as resources. Zalot will present “The kids are alright:” Understanding Youth Agency in Book Banning Discourse.” This presentation will discuss some of the factors influencing the absence of young people in book banning discourse and how social media operates as a means of access for young people in both book banning and political discourses. Youth services can nurture youth, community, and support learning and family connection. This presentation and the subsequent attendee discussion will explore the ways that the LIS field can work to address these and other community needs through excellent youth services.

‘What we give up to get where we’re going’: compromise in the institutionalizing of youth peace advocacy

ABSTRACT In 2015, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS), formalizing an agenda for positive youth participation in peace and security. However, youth peace activists have been leading peacebuilding long before this institutional recognition. This article explores the dynamics of how advocates and institutional actors conceptualize and negotiate compromise. To do this, it draws on in-depth interviews with youth and adult YPS advocates, a critical analysis of documents related to the agenda, and extended participant observation. It explores and develops a notion of a field of youth-oriented peacebuilding, drawing on Bourdieu. This makes visible a more complex field of struggle, showing how compromise can help explain how youth actively negotiate their participation in formalized agendas and persist in their own peacebuilding ambitions. It argues for a more nuanced understanding of compromise to understand the affordances and limitations of youth agency and institutional agendas.

Beyond the conflict: youth militants, amnesty, and challenges of post-conflict life in the oil-rich Niger Delta of Nigeria

ABSTRACT This paper argues that there is need for current efforts to reintegrate youth militants in the Niger Delta of Nigeria into normal community life to be anchored on a thorough understanding of the peculiar agency of youth and the socio-cultural challenges of post-conflict reintegration. Such efforts should also take cognisance of the complex nature of the problem. The paper contends that while the on-going amnesty programme in the region has achieved partial success, it was founded on a parochial philosophy, which creates a booming economic environment for the managers. Therefore, it recommends that the initiative should be anchored on both a thorough understanding of the youth as social agency and the deleterious impact of the conflict on ideal socio-cultural norms of expectations and roles among different generations of the population in the region. In effect, a proper sociological framing and nuancing of the programme would appear imperative for sustainable peace in the region.

Introduction to the Special Issue: The Lives (and Futures) of Black Children and Youth

ABSTRACT As social science scholarship on Black children and youth continues to expand and explore their experiences, there still remains a need to investigate how families, communities, relationships, and social institutions impact their experiences. The theme for this special issue is inspired in part by our considerations of Black children’s and youth’s present realities and their futures. The editors of this volume are interested in creating space to analyze and theorize the radical possibilities for Black children to flourish in a world that typically ignores, marginalizes, and dismisses their plights and their promise. Privileging the agency of Black youth, the articles in this special issue provide nuanced accounts of how they make sense of many aspects of their lives and futures.

Recognising the NYA at 60

Leigh Middleton, chief executive of the National Youth Agency, reflects on the youth organisation's achievements since being founded in 1964 and the role it can play in shaping the future of youth work

Bending stories, disrupting boundaries: spatial reclamation as literacy practices beyond the rows and rules

AbstractIn this article, we explore the dynamic interplay of youth agency, spatial justice, and literacy practices across community spaces through micro‐analysis of photographs and interviews of children and youth. Through a lens of spatial reclamation, the study investigates how children and youth disrupt adult‐designed spaces to restory and reclaim narratives, ultimately reshaping the socio‐spatial landscape. Combining the concepts of restorying and spatial justice, we explore the awareness and agency children exhibit when challenging dominant expectations, particularly examining instances of rulebreaking and safety negotiation. Examining two distinct settings—a school playground and a community protest—the study reveals how youth engage in embodied performances that rupture anticipated discourses in place. The findings underscore the multilayered nature of youth rulebreaking as a form of resistance and as a form of leadership, emphasising the potential for transformative socio‐spatial impact as youth reclaim narratives through new co‐constructions of space. Across age groups and geographies, Black and Brown youth and children emerge as leaders in reshaping spaces through their acts of resistance, redefining boundaries, and leading peaceful protests. The article calls for a nuanced understanding of how spatial justice intersects with restorying, urging educators and researchers to reconsider acts of reclamation as literacies across adult‐dictated spaces.

Unpacking the Discourse on Youth Pathways into and out of Homelessness: Implications for Research Scholarship and Policy Interventions

Youth homelessness presents a complex and persistent challenge worldwide, particularly affecting young adults between 16 and 24 years of age in the US and Canada. This population faces elevated risks of exploitation, victimization, and various health issues upon detachment from familial support structures. Understanding the multi-faceted nature of youth homelessness requires the consideration of individual, structural, and systemic factors within the socio-ecological model. Historically, when examining youth homelessness, traditional methods have concentrated either on individual factors contributing to homelessness or on broader structural issues within society. The emergence of the new orthodoxy attempted to bridge the apparent gap between individual- and structural-level factors by considering both to be equally significant, but it faced skepticism for its theoretical framework. In response, the “pathways” approach gained traction, emphasizing the subjective experiences and agency of youth experiencing homelessness. Departing from conventional epidemiological models, the pathways approach views homelessness as a dynamic process intertwined with individual life contexts. This paper navigates the scholarly discourse on youth homelessness and examines the distinct characteristics of the pathways approach. By exploring its implications for research and policy, this study contributes to a nuanced understanding of youth homelessness and informs future prevention-focused interventions.

Youth voice finds a new home

National Youth Agency steps up to run the UK Youth Parliament after collapse of previous host body

Rallying Europe: young women and men searching for a life and a future

ABSTRACT The turmoil of the mid-twentieth century saw young people mobilized for action across Europe in an unprecedented manner. Concurrently, against the backdrop of the struggle between democratic and authoritarian projects, war and fragile peace, young people increasingly became a target of state legislation, (mass) organizations and other institutions. From the end of the First World War to the aftermath of the Second World War, Europe witnessed fundamental changes in the social regimes that determined societal power distribution. This special issue approaches the first half of the twentieth century through the lens of age and gender as interdependent categories of analysis. In doing so, the authors reveal how adult perceptions of youth and gender framed young men and women’s lives, as well as their roles in society. Vice versa, the authors explore how these perceptions collided with youth agency, probing the specific age – and gender-related dynamics of empowerment and organization. By zooming in on the concrete young actors and the institutional settings that limited their scope of action, processes of wayward appropriations will be contrasted with institutionalized attempts to control and lead ‘the young’. As such, the authors contribute to a global academic discussion on age, gender, the lifecycle and intersectionality.

Urban transformations, youth aspirations, and education in India

ABSTRACT Rapid urbanisation and demographic transition have significant implications for India, making it one of the largest urban agglomerations and youngest nations in the world. Each of these involves complex and multilayered changes, specially with neo-liberal transformations leaving their impact on youth lives, aspirations, and culture. While the ‘urban’ remains the site for realising youth aspirations, neo-liberal transformations of this space are such that youth face many barriers in realising their dreams for a secure future. This includes enhanced social exclusions of youth from marginalised social castes and from rural areas. Also, there is the domination of a globalised middle- class in cities that now aspire to be aesthetic world-class spaces. The assertive middle class also brings in cultures of conspicuous consumption from which the youth from marginalised social backgrounds are somewhat disconnected. In the midst of these transformations, the central question this volume seeks to explore is about the life experiences, aspirations, trajectories of social mobility and agency of youth in India.

Born to blossom, bloom, then perish? The rise and fall of the Pomells de Joventut de Catalunya (1920–1923)

ABSTRACT The activities, outputs, and histories of youth organisations across a range of contexts can give us a privileged understanding of later political movements that find their roots with those youth movements. Scholars have already paid a great deal of attention to youth movements as part of totalitarian regimes, revolutionary and rebellious factions, as well as weird and wonderful cults. However, our understanding of the realities and impact of youth groups tied to minoritised language movements in Iberia remains underdeveloped and fails to reflect on the agency of youth. In the case of Catalonia – the focus of this article – a number of youth groups emerged in the delicate, and politically fraught period between Spain’s disastrous defeat at hands of the United States in 1898 and the sudden rise of the Primo de Rivera dictatorship (1923–1930). Nearing the end of this timeline, the Pomells de Joventut de Catalunya (1920–1923) were one such organisation that sprung up to serve both God and Catalonia, a combination which would garner interest from the Catalan elite but also single them out for annihilation at hands of Spanish nationalism. This article seeks to disclose the history of the Pomells, their wider networks and relations to the power structures of the day, how young people made the organisation their own through small actions, and, finally, the demise and afterlives of the organisation.

Youth agency and conceptualizations of menstruation in English education policy 1928–2020

ABSTRACT Through the method of tracing-and-mapping, this paper traces the history of how menstruation has been conceptualized in English education policies since 1928, as well as how such conceptualizations have positioned young people. It explains how education policy in England has conceptualized menstruation as a (cis girls’) biological process; a controllable problem; and a process that can be instructed on and learned. The paper unfolds how such conceptualizations positioned young people as passive non-agents. It also draws on feminist relational materialism, critical menstruation studies and childhood studies to experiment with different articulations of menstruation and agency. It concludes by reimagining menstruation education and young people’s role in addressing menstrual stigma.