Youth resistance revisited: new theories of youth negotiations of educational injustices

Abstract

This special issue explores the possibilities and limitations of theories of youth resistance in educational research, and presents new and expanded theories of youth responses to injustices in schooling. Drawing from a range of discourses – including, but not limited to, critical theory, political economy, decolonizing theory, queer theory, critical race theory, and educational discourses that borrow from criminal justice, health, and sociology – the articles present research findings that complicate, extend, and sometimes explode current conceptualizations of youth resistance. Featuring qualitative studies in education that employ a diversity of methods, the articles solder empirical research to theory, providing on-the-ground examples of new or reclaimed theories of youth resistance in action.

Keywords:

• youth resistance
• cultural resistance
• everyday acts of resistance
• youth development as resistance
• social justice frameworks of resistance

Acknowledgements

We are deeply grateful to authors and reviewers for their thoughtful contributions to this special issue. We especially appreciate the efforts of friend and colleague Kate McCoy, who provided invaluable insights and ideas, and Managing Editor Elsa Gonzalez y Gonzalez.