Matt Henn

Sarah Pickard

Recently, important new research has emerged to explain the large intergenerational cleavages in values and political preferences in many contemporary societies. In most established democracies (and many newer democracies), young people are more likely to possess progressive values and are much more cosmopolitan in their outlook (socially liberal, accepting of cultural diversity and outward looking) than older generations. They tend to reject mainstream electoral politics and authoritarian-nationalist forms of populism in favour of alternative, progressive political parties and movements. Indeed, there is burgeoning evidence of a global tendency towards young people’s support for, and participation in, new styles of non-institutionalised political action that seem to better fit their life-styles and to permit the actualisation of their political aspirations. Although there is a considerable body of existing literature that examines the rise of such values and political participation preferences, there is little work that focuses on the relationship with the prioritisation of environmental issues and environmental activism as evidenced in the September 2019 global climate strikes. The goal of the current Research Topic is to explore the contemporary realities and patterns of youth participation in environmental politics in different societies. As such, we welcome manuscripts of original research and conceptualization that address the different practices of youth as they seek to effect environmental change (and also their motivations for doing so). Contributions are welcome from scholars, youth practitioners and activists operating in a range of different settings, and using diverse disciplinary, and multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives.

Youth Activism in Environmental Politics, 2nd Edition

Judith Bessant

Young People Re-Generating Politics in Times of Crises

This book provides insight into the diverse ways young people from around the world are regenerating politics in innovative and multifaceted ways. The authors, who include academics and activists, challenge claims that young people are apolitical, apathetic and living up to the ‘me generation’ stereotype. Contributions cover a rich body of case examples of traditional and new forms of youth politics in response to situated injustices and political and socio-economic crises. Significant and optimistic, the collection presents strong evidence from across the globe that these developments are not isolated incidences, but are in fact part of a systemic, large-scale transformation leading to a regeneration of the political landscape by young people. The book is aimed at students and scholars in the fields of politics, sociology, policy studies and youth and childhood studies.

This comprehensive, interdisciplinary collection examines diverse forms of anti-social behaviour in Victorian and contemporary Britain, providing a unique comparison of the methods which have been employed by governments to control it.

Victorian and Contemporary Perspectives

Anti-Social Behaviour in Britain

Analicia Mejia Mesinas

Student political action has been a major and recurring feature of politics across the globe throughout the past century. Students have been involved in a full range of public issues, from anti-colonial movements, anti-war campaigns, civil rights and pro-democracy movements to campaigns against neoliberal policies, austerity, racism, misogyny and calls for climate change action. Yet their actions are frequently dismissed by political elites and others as ‘adolescent mischief’ or manipulation of young people by duplicitous adults. This occurs even as many working in governments, traditional media and educational organisations attempt to suppress student movements. Moreover, much of mainstream scholarly work has deemed student politics as unworthy of intellectual attention. These three edited volumes of books help set the record straight. Written by scholars and activists from around the world, When Students Protest: Universities in the Global North is the third in this three-volume study that explores university student politics in the global north. Authors explore university and college student political action, especially over the past decade. It is just over fifty years since May 1968 when student protests erupted at Université Paris Nanterre in France and then spread across the globe. Contributors to this book demonstrate that despite repeated attempts by states, power elites and institutions to suppress and even criminalise student political action, student movements have always been part of the political landscape and remain a significant and potent source of political change and renewal.

Universities in the Global North

When Students Protest

Higher Education in the UK and the US: Converging University Models in a Global Academic World? compares current trends in two educational systems. It focuses on ideologies, structures, economics, marketisation, access, admittance and the student experience from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Converging University Models in a Global Academic World?

Higher Education in the UK and the US

Sarah Pickard offers a detailed and wide-ranging assessment of electoral and non-electoral political participation of young people in contemporary Britain, drawing on perspectives and insights from youth studies, political science and political sociology. This comprehensive book enquires into the approaches used by the social sciences to understand young people’s politics and documents youth-led evolutions in political behaviour. After unpicking key concepts including ‘political participation,’ ‘generations,’ the ‘political life-cycle,’ and the ‘youth vote,’ Pickard draws on a combination of quantitative and qualitative research to trace the dynamics operating in electoral political participation since the 1960s. This includes the relationship between political parties, politicians and young people, youth and student wings of political parties, electoral behaviour and the lowering of the voting age to 16. Pickard goes on to discuss personalised engagement through what she calls young people’s (DIO) Do-It-Ourselves political participation in online and offline connected collectives. The book then explores young people’s political dissent as part of a global youth-led wave of protest. This holistic book will appeal to anyone with an interest in young people, politics, protest and political change.

Sarah Pickard

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