What difference does it make? Exploring the transformative potential of everyday climate crisis activism by children and youth

ABSTRACT

Given the enormity of the climate crisis, the transformative potential of ‘everyday’ activism is often questioned. In this theoretical discussion, I explore the real-world significance of everyday activism by children and youth. First, I emphasize the need for top-down policy change as well as bottom-up cultural shifts. Next, I describe the significance of young people’s everyday activism through the lens of countercultures, while highlighting agency-limiting practices common in present-day formal educational settings. Lastly, I call for participatory and arts-based approaches in facilitating youths’ everyday climate crisis activism, noting its potential micro-level benefits and its relationship to macro-level social change.

KEYWORDS:

• Activism
• agency
• arts
• children
• climate change
• participatory action

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). The work described in this manuscript complies with ethical standards.

Notes

1 Quotes are from post-program focus groups with children who participated in Science, Camera, Action! an after-school program I designed and implemented with ten- to twelve-year-olds. The program combined climate change education with youth-led participatory action (yPAR), the arts with the sciences, and youth-designed ‘everyday’ action plans with collaborative community-based action projects (see Trott 2019, 2020).

2 My own work has been subjected to this particular critique. On the other hand, my yPAR work was driven by a frustration with the predominance of the ‘ABC’ model (i.e. attitudes, behavior, choice) in psychology, which too often overlooked the need for structural change (Shove 2010).

3 The actions of humans are critical to averting the most devastating impacts of climate change. The climate crisis is, after all, a consequence of human decisions and actions. However, systemic change is necessary. I agree with Alisat and Riemer (2015) that the climate crisis requires youth engagement that encompasses ‘intentional and conscious civic behaviors that are focused on systemic causes of environmental problems and the promotion of environmental sustainability through collective efforts’ (14).

4 Following Hayward and Roy (2019), I use the terms ‘global South’ and ‘global North’ not in the geographic sense but in terms of ‘“social designation[s]” for politically, environmentally, and economically vulnerable communities that include socioeconomically underprivileged communities in rich nation contexts, while similarly acknowledging at times “global North” may include highly privileged communities in poor nation contexts’ (158).

5 Among the reasons given were science teachers’ lack of confidence in, and lack of training to teach about climate change. For some, climate change was not covered in their college training and the report called for more professional development opportunities for these teachers.