scholarly journals “We Are Radical In Our Kindness”: The Political Socialisation, Motivations, Demands and Protest Actions of Young Environmental Activists in Britain

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-280
Author(s):  
Sarah Pickard ◽  
Benjamin Bowman ◽  
Dena Arya

Abstract The year 2018 was a watershed in environmental activism, especially regarding young activists. Greta Thunberg started her School Strikes for Climate and the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion was founded. This article deals with young people’s involvement in these two global movements. It draws on 60 semi-structured interviews carried out with young environmental activists before, during and after protest actions under the auspices of the climate strikes and/or Extinction Rebellion in five British locations. The period of the political socialisation of this young generation is outlined and how it contributes to young people becoming environmental activists. The article then identifies the “radical” demands made by young environmental activists and their “radical” repertoire of contention in relation to their perceptions of the “radical” compared to hegemonic definitions. The interviews show that these young environmentalists are part of a generation of activists committed to obtaining significant change from powerholders through the use of deliberately non-violent direct action that challenges academic perceptions of radical repertoires of contention.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Galina Viktorovna Morozova ◽  
Artur Romanovich Gavrilov ◽  
Bulat Ildarovich Yakupov

If we sum up the tasks facing the Russian state in relation to the young generation, then all of them are associated with its harmonious inclusion in the social and political development of the country. At the normative level, the current need is declared for young people to form active citizenship and democratic political culture, which is possible only in a constant and equal dialogue between the authorities and young people. Ensuring the interaction of the younger generation with the political elite presupposes the existence of certain conditions - the creation and effective functioning of the information infrastructure of youth policy, as well as the conduct of an open active information policy. The article describes the results of a study of the political status of students of the capital of Tatarstan - Kazan, in particular, such parameters as youth interest in political information, trust in the sources of this information, and political participation. Together with the data of secondary studies, this made it possible to characterize the youth sector of political communication, identify the existing difficulties in the interaction of the government and youth, in particular, identify some difficulties in receiving and disseminating political information among the youth, which impede the development of a democratic political culture and the accumulation of social capital of the young generation.


Author(s):  
Антонина Владимировна Селезнева ◽  
Наталья Валентиновна Смулькина ◽  
Александра Федоровна Яковлева

В статье исследуются психологические и социально-политические особенности молодого поколения россиян, определяющие основные черты, пути и способы формирования гражданского самосознания молодежи. Категория «гражданское самосознание» понимается как комплекс ценностных, когнитивных, рефлексивных, мотивационных и эмоциональных особенностей личности, определяющих ее устойчивую и осознанную самоидентификацию в качестве гражданина и выражающихся в ее взаимоотношении с государством и обществом. Структурно-содержательные характеристики образа России в сознании молодежи даны с позиций теории политического восприятия и разработок политических психологов в области изучения политического сознания молодежи, различных положений теории идентичности в аспекте понимания гражданской идентичности как основы политического самоопределения индивида. Присущий современной молодежи образ России (комплекс представлений о ней как стране и государстве) исследуется в его визуальном измерении – через рисунки молодых людей, репрезентирующие их представления о России в виде изображений. В исследовании использована проективная рисуночная методика «Россия в виде дома», которая, как и любая другая подобная диагностическая техника, направлена на выявление глубинных и слабо осознаваемых особенностей восприятия окружающей действительности и себя в этом мире. Основное внимание уделено смысловому содержанию представленных в рисунках сюжетов, их символическому наполнению, эмоциональному знаку изображений. Обобщение данных осуществлялось по параметрам когнитивной сложности и конгруэнтности образов. Целевую группу исследования составили молодые российские граждане в возрасте от 15 до 30 лет в рамках трех возрастных групп: 15–17 лет, 18–23 лет, 24–30 лет. В ходе исследования было собрано и проанализировано 540 рисунков (по 180 рисунков респондентов каждой возрастной группы) в Москве и Санкт-Петербурге, в Краснодарском и Приморском краях, в Московской, Тверской, Липецкой, Омской областях, в республиках Крым и Северная Осетия – Алания (не менее 50 рисунков в каждом регионе). По результатам исследования выделены как общие тенденции восприятия страны, определяющие гражданскую идентичность молодежи, так и особенности образа России у разных возрастных групп в структуре молодого поколения. Выделены несколько взаимосвязанных направлений (контуров) структурирования образа своей страны, включающих в себя разные аспекты представлений о России молодых россиян: личностно-эмоциональный, властно-государственный, цивилизационный. Отмечено, что наибольшие сложности формирования гражданской идентичности проявляются у младшей возрастной группы исследуемых россиян. Рассмотрение образа страны в структуре гражданского самосознания молодежи на визуальных данных – материалах проективных рисунков – позволило подтвердить наличие зависимости гражданской идентичности от соотнесения молодыми людьми себя с воспринимаемой общностью – Россией как социокультурным и политическим образованием. Сделан вывод о том, что использование визуальных методов в исследованиях молодежи представляется перспективным в том числе в силу особого «клипового» характера восприятия ею социально-политической реальности и значительной роли визуальных средств в ее коммуникации в социальной среде и виртуальном пространстве. The article examines the psychological and sociopolitical features of Russia’s young generation, which determine the characteristics, ways and means of forming the civic consciousness of the youth. The category “civic consciousness” is understood as a complex of value, cognitive, reflexive, motivational and emotional characteristics of a person that determine their stable and conscious self-identification as a citizen and are expressed in a person’s relationship with the state and society. The structural and substantive characteristics of the image of Russia in the minds of young people are given from the standpoints of the theory of political perception and developments of political psychologists in the field of studying the political consciousness of young people, various aspects of the theory of identity in terms of understanding civic identity as the basis of the political self-determination of the individual. The image of Russia, which is a complex of ideas about it as a country and a state, the modern youth has is explored in its visual dimension through young people’s drawings representing their ideas about Russia in the form of images. The study used the projective drawing technique “Russia in the form of a house”, which, like any other similar diagnostic technique, aims at identifying deep and poorly perceived features of the perception of the surrounding reality and oneself in the world. The main focus is on the semantic content of the plots presented in the drawings, their symbolic content, the emotional sign of the images. Data were generalized according to the parameters of the cognitive complexity and congruence of the images. The target group of the study consisted of young Russian citizens aged 15 to 30 within three age groups – 15 to 17, 18 to 23, and 24 to 30 years. In the course of the study, 540 drawings were collected and analyzed (180 drawings by respondents of each age group) in Moscow and St. Petersburg, in Krasnodar and Primorsky krais, in Moscow, Tver, Lipetsk, Omsk oblasts, in the Republics of Crimea and North Ossetia-Alania (at least 50 drawings in each region). Based on the results of the study, the authors identify general tendencies of the perception of the country, which determine the civic identity of young people, and the distinctiveness of the image of Russia in different age groups in the structure of the younger generation. Several interrelated directions (outlines) of structuring the image of their country are also described, including different aspects of young Russians’ ideas about Russia: personal-emotional, power-state, civilizational. The authors note that great difficulties in the development of civic identity are manifested in the younger age group of the studied Russians. The analysis of the image of the country in the structure of the civic consciousness of youth based on visual data, particularly materials of projective drawings, made it possible to confirm the existence of the dependence of civic identity on how the young correlate themselves with the perceived community – Russia as a sociocultural and political entity. The conclusion is made that the use of visual methods in youth research seems to be promising, including due to the specific “clip” nature of the youth’s perception of the sociopolitical reality and the significant role of visual means in the youth’s communication in the social environment and the virtual space.


Author(s):  
Joarez Luiz Wegher ◽  
Suely Aparecida Martins

The present article presents some results of a Master’s degree research on the contributions of Paulo Freire State High School along the process of political education of young settlers who lives in the municipality of Abelardo Luz, in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. It aims to identify this school’s contributions in the process of political education of these young people and understand the relation between such a formation and the struggle for a field school. This qualitative study used as tools for collecting data school observations, analysis over its political-pedagogical project, and semi-structured interviews. We based our analysis on authors such as Pistrak (2000; 2009), Freire (1987; 2004), Snyders (2005), Dalmagro (2003; 2016), Vendramini (2007) and Caldart (2000; 2004). Paulo Freire school is contextualized along with the research subjects, students’ and educators’ characteristics, highlighting some contributions given to the school in connection to the political education of its students. One of the conclusion is that the participation of the Landless Movement and school takes place according to the political-pedagogical project based on Study Complexes, contributing to the fulfillment of a field school when it reaffirms a school formation as a right and reinforces the permanent need of school occupation. It is reinforced the school as a room for struggles, a terrain where contradictory forces face each other, leaving room for action.


2020 ◽  
pp. 50-53
Author(s):  
Elena Malik

The article reveals the problem of the influence of media information flows on the processes of political socialization of the young generation in modern Russia. Conditions for activation of social and political potential of young people in conditions of mediatization of Russian society have been identified. The author outlined the main directions for optimizing the information impact of mass media on the political orientation of young citizens.


Author(s):  
Elena Malik

The article presents the results of a systematic analysis of the process of integration of Russian youth into the political sphere of society. The specificity of the situation of young people as an object and subject of state policy is justified and the conditions for stimulating their socio-political activity are revealed. The orientation of the participation of the younger generation in the political process of the country is influenced by an integrated system of political, socio-economic, historical and cultural factors. The conclusion is argued that the situation of the young generation, the formation and realization of its socio-political potential continue to remain controversial. The productive realization of its innovative potential is a significant factor in political progress.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Vellayati Hajad ◽  
Ikhsan Ikhsan ◽  
Akmal Saputra ◽  
Nellis Mardhiah ◽  
Nodi Marefanda ◽  
...  

The younger generation is an important pillar of the state. At the same time, they hold ideology and action. On the basis of a historical approach, Muslim youth contributed significantly to the establishment of Indonesia during the period of independence until the 1998 reform period. However, there is currently a decline in the participation of Muslim youth in politics. There are many reasons, including passive attitudes towards national political problems and the still low level of literacy of Islamic politics among young people. It is therefore important to do this dedication, which aims to increase the political understanding of Islam among the young generation of Islam. The method used is the format of lectures, discussions and question and answer sessions. Before and after the test, it was shown that there was an increase in Islamic political insight among students compared to before the activity was carried out.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 487
Author(s):  
Nanda Harda Pratama Meiji

This paper examines about the dynamics of youth in a political party in Malang,  East Java. The proliferation of young people and political parties give us an important picture, especially in the middle of the political situation in Indonesia which is getting negative. Instead of become apathetic, the youth are joined actively in the context of practical politics. A political party that should be an inclusive place for anyone in it (including those of young people) precisely do exclucivity by the others. Some youth who come from minority group especially based on race, class, and gender have experience about discrimination by some people in that party. Using qualitative method with biography approach, there are 3 key informants who will told about their narration related to exclucivity by some people in the political party. Although these youth cadres have experience about  racism, class, or gender discrimination, they still seem to be trying to survive and instead fight with in their own way.  For these youth the tendency of discrimination must be opposed from within the party because they assume that as a young generation have enough capital to change the future of the party for a better way.


Author(s):  
Benjamin Bowman ◽  
Sarah Pickard

Abstract The current young generation are living through socio-historically situated intersecting crises, including precarity and climate change. In these times of crisis, young people are also bearing witness to a distinctive global wave of youth-led activism involving protest actions. Much of this activism can be deemed dissent because many young activists are calling for systemic change, including the radical disruption, reimagining and rebuilding of the social, economic and political status quo. In this interdisciplinary article, between politics and peace studies, we investigate how the concept of peace plays an important role in some young dissent, and specifically the dissent of young people taking action on climate change. We observed that these young environmental activists often describe their actions in careful terms of positive peace, non-violence, kindness and care, in order to express their dissent as what we interpret as positive civic behaviour. They also use concepts grounded in peace and justice to navigate their economic, political and social precarity. Based on a youth-centred study, drawing on insightful face to face semi-structured interviews in Britain and France with school climate strikers, Friday For Future (FFF) and Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists, we explore how young environmental activists themselves related their dissent, and especially how they attached importance to it being non-violent and/or peaceful. Stemming from our findings, we discuss how young environmental activists’ vision of violence and non-violence adapted to the structural and personal violence they face at the complex intersections of young marginalization, global inequalities and injustices in the lived impact of climate change and the policing of protest.


2021 ◽  
Vol 199 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgios Kyroglou

  This commentary reflects on Huttunen and Albrecht’s exploration of the representations of young people’s environmental citizenship within the framing of the Fridays for Future (FFF) movement in the Finnish news media and on Twitter. In particular, it problematises the issue of the recognition of young people’s agency by their adult contemporaries, at a watershed moment for global environmental activism. It argues that although young people actively bring the climate change in the forefront of political discussion aiming to shape how environmental responsibility is being understood, the success of the movement will largely depend on the acknowledgement of their political message by its intended recipients; namely their adult contemporaries and politicians.    


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-80
Author(s):  
Sari Hanafi

This study investigates the preachers and their Friday sermons in Lebanon, raising the following questions: What are the profiles of preachers in Lebanon and their academic qualifications? What are the topics evoked in their sermons? In instances where they diagnosis and analyze the political and the social, what kind of arguments are used to persuade their audiences? What kind of contact do they have with the social sciences? It draws on forty-two semi-structured interviews with preachers and content analysis of 210 preachers’ Friday sermons, all conducted between 2012 and 2015 among Sunni and Shia mosques. Drawing from Max Weber’s typology, the analysis of Friday sermons shows that most of the preachers represent both the saint and the traditional, but rarely the scholar. While they are dealing extensively with political and social phenomena, rarely do they have knowledge of social science


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