Why youth and feminist activism matters: insights from anti-nuclear campaigns in practice

ABSTRACT

The year 2017 will go down in history as a key turning point in anti-nuclear activism. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to ICAN and a ban treaty was adopted by an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations. For young people, never before has there been such momentum for a nuclear-free world. Excited by this progress and wanting to build further momentum, this brief piece provides insights about the importance of feminist analysis and the role that young people are playing by providing a snapshot of anti-nuclear campaigns. By drawing on the perspectives of several young activists, it argues for, and details why the perspectives of young people are significant, and outlines various strengths and strategies of engaging youth, along with complexities and challenges. Overall, this piece provides a timely analysis of the powerful role that young people can play in anti-nuclear activism.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth activism
• anti-nuclear
• resolution 2250
• feminist analysis
• gender

Acknowledgements

YWILPF Australia wishes to thank those who helped inform and provided feedback on this piece, namely Marzhan Nurzhan from Abolition 2000 Youth Network, Alexandra Arce von Herold and Anna Ikeda from Amplify Youth Network, Franca Brueggen and Kelvin Kibet from IPPNW Students, Kate Alexander from Peace Action New York and Gem Romuld from ICAN Australia. For a full list of youth activist organizations, strategies, and their responses, please see https://ywilpf.wordpress.com/.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Lisa Carson is the voluntary coordinator of Young WILPF Australia and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of New South Wales. Her research and activism focuses on the complexities of translating policy into practice at local, national and international levels and crosses boundaries of policy analysis, feminist and gender studies, political science, international relations, institutionalist theory and sociology among others.

ORCID

Lisa Carson http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7786-1082

Notes

1 UN News Centre, ‘The Only World Safe from Use of Nuclear Weapons is a World Completely Free of Them-UN Chief’, UN, September 23, 2017, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=57746#.WmfXn5P1VTY (accessed January 14, 2018).

2 Soka Gakkai International, ‘International Survey by SGI Youth Shows 91% Consider Nuclear Weapons INHUMANE’, April 25, 2013, www.sgi.org/in-focus/press-releases/international-survey-sgi-youth-nuclear-weapons.html (accessed January 14, 2018).

3 UNDP, ‘Enhancing Youth Political Partnership throughout the Electoral Cycle’, 2013, http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/Democratic%20Governance/Electoral%20Systems%20and%20Processes/ENG_UN-Youth_Guide-LR.pdf (accessed December 17, 2017).

4 Ibid.

5 UN Security Council Resolution 2250, 2015, http://unoy.org/wp-content/uploads/SCR-2250.pdf.

6 Ibid.

7 Cynthia Enloe, Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making sense of International Politics (London: Pandora, 1987).

8 Gem Romuld (member ICAN Australia), personal communication with the author, August 8, 2017; Beatrice Fihn, ‘Now This Original. Interview’, January 3, 2018, https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/948623445671251969 (accessed January 14, 2018).

9 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (New York: UN, 2017), http://www.icanw.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/TPNW-English1.pdf (accessed March 18, 2018).

10 See ICAN, ‘Ban Nuclear Weapons 2017’, 2017, http://www.nuclearfreenz30.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ican-2017.pdf (accessed December 17, 2017); RCW, ‘Gender, War, and Weapons: Linking Gender and Disarmament at the Commission on the Status of Women’, WILPF, 2015, www.reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/9564-gender-war-and-weapons-linking-gender-and-disarmament-at-the-commission-on-the-status-of-women (accessed December 17, 2017); Fihn, ‘Now this Original’.

11 Ibid.

12 Alyn Ware, ‘Indigenous Sovereignty and Nuclear Forces: Prospects for a Nuclear-Free Artic’, n.d, www.disarmsecure.org/Indigenous%20sovereignty%20and%20nuclear%20forces.pdf (accessed December 17, 2017); Black Mist Burnt Country, Black Mist Burnt Country. Testing the Bomb: Maralinga & Australian Art (Victoria: Ferntree Print, 2016).

13 Carol Cohn, ‘The Perils of Mixing Masculinity and Missiles’, New York Times, January 5, 2018.

14 Ray Acheson, ‘Gender and Nuclear Weapons’, RCW of WILPF, March 31, 2010, www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/statements/nmun2010.pdf (accessed December 17, 2017).

15 Ibid.

16 RCW, ‘Gender, War, and Weapons’.

17 See Carol Cohn, ‘Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals’, Signs 12, no. 4 (1987): 687–718; Carol Cohn, Felicity Hill, and Sara Ruddick, ‘The Relevance of Gender for Eliminating Weapons of Mass Destruction’, in Beyond Arms Control: Challenges and Choices for Nuclear Disarmament (New York: WILPF), 143–58; Cohn, ‘Perils of Masculinity’.

18 Cohn, ‘Perils of Masculinity’.

19 Ray Acheson, ‘Why Ethics is Important to the Politics of Nuclear Weapons’, RCW WILPF, 2015, www.reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/9888-why-ethics-is-important-to-the-politics-of-nuclear-weapons (accessed December 17, 2017).

20 Jennifer Nordstrom and Felicity Hill, ‘A Gender Perspective’, in Nuclear Disorder or Cooperative Security?, ed. John Burroughs (New York: Lawyers Committee, 2007), 165–8, see 167.

21 Ibid.

22 Acheson, ‘Why Ethics is Important’.

23 Ibid.

24 Ibid.

25 CCND, ‘Children’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, 1980–1983’, Swarthmore College Peace Collection, n.d, www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/DG176-200/dg190ccnd.htm (accessed December 17, 2017); Guido Grünewald, Children’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (Peace Union of Finland, 1985).

26 Hibakusha Stories, ‘Hibakusha Stories: Working together for a Nuclear-Free World’, n.d, http://hibakushastories.org/mission/ (accessed December 17, 2017); Miya Tanaka, ‘Project to connect American Youths with Hibakusha Winding Down’, Japan Times, August 25, 2015.

27 In memory of the thousands of children killed. See Ari Beser, ‘How Paper Cranes became a Symbol of Healing in Japan’, National Geographic, August 28, 2015; Sadako Legacy, 2017, http://www.sadako-jp.com/ (accessed December 17, 2017).

28 Organized by Physicians for Social Responsibility whereby medical students in over 40 cities wore white coats and laid out large red X’s representing missile targets.

29 Students at the University of California developed a class and ran a campaign called ‘UC and the Bomb’.

30 Such as hunger strikes, see Tova Fuller, ‘Student Activism and Organizing on Nuclear Weapons’, IPPNW, 2009, https://peaceandhealthblog.com/2009/10/24/student-activism-and-organizing-on-nuclear-weapons/ (accessed November 19, 2017).

31 Such as the ‘International Youth Summit for Nuclear Abolition’ which provides an important platform for networking, engagement and building solidarity among younger activists. The UN coordinates initiatives and organisations such as ‘UNFOLD Zero’ which is facilitated by the General Assembly, Security Council, Secretary-General and other UN bodies. See Unfold Zero, ‘UN Youth Day: Reach HIGH for a Nuclear-weapon-free World’, August 11, 2017, www.unfoldzero.org/reach-high-for-a-nuclear-weapon-free-world/ (accessed November 19, 2017).

32 For a full list of youth activist organisations, strategies and the responses of the following four organisations, please see https://ywilpf.wordpress.com/.

33 The following paragraph is informed by A2K Youth Network (member, Marzhan Nurzhan) in correspondence with the author, 2 November 2017.

34 In June 2017, they took part in planning meetings with youth from other organisations at the UN in New York during treaty ban negotiations. The forum provided a chance for young activists to discuss issues on youth engagement, youth representation, preparation for and participation in the forthcoming 2018 UN High Level Conference (UNHLC) on Nuclear Disarmament. In November 2017, an ‘International Youth Conference’ was held in Prague, which resulted in the release of a ‘Youth Appeal’ calling upon world leaders to participate in the 2018 UNHLC on Nuclear Disarmament, and to use the occasion to sign the ban treaty, as well as supporting interim measures to reduce the risks of nuclear weapons being used.

35 Global dates for coordinated youth action were also agreed upon. On UN Youth Day (August 12) and Nuclear Abolition Day (September 26).

36 The following paragraph is informed by Amplify Youth Network 2017 (members Alexandra Arce von Herold and Anna Ikeda) in correspondence with the author, 31 October 2017.

37 By bringing together and promoting local youth initiatives, Amplify are able to create and build international momentum among young people.

38 Such as attending congresses, meetings, campaigns and summits among other activities.

39 The following paragraph is informed by IPPNW Students (members Franca Brueggen and Kelvin Kibet) in correspondence with the author, 31 October 2017. IPPNW Students is part of IPPNW International. They meet regularly locally and are part and have independent voting rights in the Executive Council of IPPNW.

40 IPPNW Students hold a bike tour in the lead up to the bi-annual IPPNW World Conference.

41 Exhibitions such as ‘Target X’ and ‘Hibakusha worldwide’ that raises awareness about the victims and impact of nuclear weapons.

42 See also Saima Akhtar, ‘Prevention is the Best Medicine’, Medium, July 6, 2017.

43 See also Fuller, ‘Student Activism’.

44 The following paragraph is informed by PANYs (member Kate Alexander) in correspondence with the author, 27 October 2017. PANYs has since expanded to Massachusetts, New Jersey, Chicago and Maine. PANYs is a member of the A2K Network.

45 And the threat force in general, but in particular against North Korea.

46 A2K Youth Network; Amplify; PANYs.

47 Romuld, 2017.

48 IPPNW Students. This fits with the direction Resolution 2250 that calls for youth inclusiveness across and within all agendas.

49 A2K Youth Network.

50 Amplify. So that it becomes contagious for more young people to take a stand on the issues.

51 For example, see Instagram tags #YouthAgainstNukes, #NukeFreeFuture. It is important to provide social media guidelines to ensure co-ordinated campaigns

52 A2K Youth Network; IPPNW Students; Amplify; PANYs see also A2K Youth Network, ‘Youth Plan Actions for Nuclear Abolition Day and the 2018 UN High Level Conference’, July 10, 2017. www.abolition2000.org/en/news/2017/07/10/youth-plan-actions-for-nuclear-abolition-day-and-the-2018-un-high-level-conference/ (accessed November 19, 2017).

53 The discourse surrounding nuclear weapons of defence rhetoric and foreign policy jargon is also a barrier for some young people, who may feel as though the issues are beyond their expertise.

54 A2K Youth Network; Amplify. Limits the number of people who can participate in events, despite high numbers of young people wanting to take part.

55 This is an inherent constraint as young people are often time-poor because of study, work and juggling family commitments.

56 Amplify.

57 Ibid.

58 Amplify.

59 PANYs.

60 A2K Youth Network; UN Conference, ‘UN Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading towards Their Total Elimination’, New York, UN, March 31, 2017, www.un.org/disarmament/ptnw/pdf/A%20CONF.229%202017%20NGO%20WP.17.pdf (accessed November 19, 2017).

61 PANYs.

62 Fuller, ‘Student Activism’. For both organizations and young people, Tova Fuller stresses the importance of learning how to make convincing arguments and hold respectful conversations, to not alienate people, and to expect that people may already have opinions, or know nothing about the issues. In her experience as a national representative for IPPNW, she warns against young people thinking that no one will listen to them because they are young, instead she explains that often it is the opposite.

63 IPPNW Students; PANYs; Fuller, ‘Student Activism’.

64 PANYs.

65 Romuld, 2017. Gem Romuld from ICAN Australia advises that emphasizing the human experiences of nuclear weapons, what their impact actually is, building civil society support and political lobbying from local to global is key.

66 See ICAN, ‘Signature/Ratification status of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons’, 2018, www.icanw.org/status-of-the-treaty-on-the-prohibition-of-nuclear-weapons/ (accessed January 14, 2018).

67 See UNODA, ‘United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs’, 2017, www.un.org/disarmament/ (accessed November 20, 2017); OSGEY, ‘Envoy’s Workplan’, 2017, www.un.org/youthenvoy/workplan/ (accessed November 19, 2017).

68 UN News Centre.

69 Ibid.

70 Fihn, ‘Now this Original’.

71 UNSCR 1325, Women, Peace & Security (New York: UN, 2000).

72 UNSCR 65/69, Women, Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Arms Control (New York: UN, 2010); UNSCR 67/48, Women, Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Arms Control (New York: UN, 2012).

73 Ray Acheson and Beatrice Fihn, eds., ‘Women and Explosive Weapons’, RCW WILPF, 2014, p. 20, www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Publications/WEW.pdf (accessed November 19, 2017). The gender-neutral language in international law and politics has contributed to the lack of inclusion of women’s experiences and perspectives and a lack of security for women.

74 Cohn, ‘Perils of Masculinity’.

75 Acheson, ‘Gender and Nuclear Weapons’; Cohn, ‘Sex and Death’; Acheson and Fihn, ‘Women and Explosive Weapons’. As men are seen as the key normative actor in security policies, the marginalisation of a gender analysis presupposes men’s experience as the only relevant experience.

76 Nordstrom and Hill, ‘Gender Perspective’, 168.