Overview

This cutting-edge study showcases the emergence of contemporary youth activism in the United States, its benefits to young people, its role in strengthening society, and its powerful social justice implications. At a time when youth are too often dismissed as either empowered consumers or disempowered deviants, it is vital to understand how these young people are pushing back, challenging such constructions, and advancing new possibilities for their institutions and themselves. This book examines the latest developments in the field of contemporary youth activism (CYA) and documents the myriad ways in which youth activists are effecting social change, even as they experience personal change. By taking public, political action on a range of intersecting issues, youth activists are shifting their own developmental pathways, shaping public policy, and shaking up traditional paradigms. Chapters cover a historical perspective on youth activism in the United States, followed by discussions of contemporary examples of CYA for social justice, including police brutality, sexual assault, environmental degradation, immigration, and a new chapter on Palestine organizing across U.S. campuses. Contributors analyze the individual, institutional, and ideological effects of CYA, arguing that youth activism works to promote change at three levels: self, systems, and in the broader society. Readers will come away with a clearer understanding of the many ways in which today's youth activists are working to reimagine and remake American democracy, reawakening the promise of a multi-issue, progressive movement for social justice.

Full Product Details

Author:   Dr Jerusha Conner (Villanova University, USA) ,  Sonia M. Rosen (Arcadia University, USA)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions:   Width: 15.40cm , Height: 3.00cm , Length: 23.20cm
Weight:   0.840kg
ISBN:  

9798765133613

Pages:   496
Publication Date:   05 February 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 1. Introduction Jerusha Conner (Villanova University, USA) and Sonia M. Rosen (Arcadia University, USA) PART I THE LANDSCAPE OF CONTEMPORARY YOUTH ACTIVISM Introduction Opening Youth Essay Beatrice Galdamez (Youth Organizing Institute, USA) 2. Youth Leadership for Social Justice: Past and Present Eric Braxton (Community Organizer, USA) 3. The Emergence of a Youth Justice Movement in the United States Mark R. Warren and Luke Aubry Kupscznk (both of University of Massachusetts-Boston, USA) 4. Conceptualizing Youth Activists' Leadership: A Multidimensional Framework Sonia M. Rosen (Arcadia University, USA) and Jerusha Conner (Villanova University, USA) 5. Young, Gifted, and Black: Black Lives Matter! Bernardine Dohrn (Northwestern University, USA) and William Ayers (University of Illinois-Chicago, USA) 6. Strategies for Systemic Change: Youth Community Organizing to Disrupt the School-to-Prison Nexus Jesica Siham Fernández (Santa Clara University, USA), Ben Kirshner (University of Colorado-Boulder, USA), and Deana G. Lewis (University of Illinois-Chicago, USA) 7. Youth Environmental Stewardship and Activism for the Environmental Commons Erin Gallay (Tufts University, USA), John Lupinacci (Washington State University, USA), Carolina S. Sarmiento (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA), Constance A. Flanagan (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA), and Ethan Lowenstein (Eastern Michigan University, USA) PART II HOW YOUTH ACTIVISM SUPPORTS YOUTH Introduction Opening Youth Essay Jamia Brown (Tulane University, USA) 8. ""It Shaped Who I Am as a Person"": Youth Organizing and the Educational and Civic Trajectories of Low-Income Youth John Rogers (University of California-Los Angeles, USA) and Veronica Terriquez (University of Southern California) 9. Studying Sociopolitical Development through Social Network Theory Kira J. Baker-Doyle (University of Illinois-Chicago, USA) 10. Shifting Stereotypes and Storylines: The Personal and Political Impact of Youth Media Barbara Ferman (Temple University, USA) and Natalia Smirnov (Northwestern University, USA) 11. Telling Our Stories, Claiming Our Space, and Becoming Change-Makers: Lessons for the Field from Black Girls and Women Organizers Julia Daniel (Community Organizer, USA) and Michelle Renée Valladares (University of Colorado-Boulder, USA) 12. The Implications of Youth Activism for Health and Well-Being Parissa J. Ballard (Wake Forest University, USA) and Emily J. Ozer (University of California-Berkeley, USA) 13. Working for Change, Learning from Work: Student Empowerment and Challenges in the Movement to End Campus Gender Violence Alexandra Brodsky (Public Justice, USA) PART III HOW YOUTH ACTIVISM STRENGTHENS SOCIETY Introduction Opening Youth Essay Janelle Astorga-Ramos (Southwest Organizing Project, USA) 14. Unlawful Entry: Civil Disobedience and the Undocumented Youth Movement Genevieve Negrón-Gonzales (University of San Francisco, USA) 15. ""We Have the Power to Make Change"": The Struggle of Asian Immigrant Youth against School Violence Mary Yee (University of Pennsylvania, USA) 16. Youth Taking the Lead in Education Policy Rachel Gunther (Consultant, USA) 17. Participatory Action Research as Youth Activism Brett G. Stoudt (The City University of New York, USA), Caitlin Cahill (CUNY, USA), Darian X (Brooklyn Movement Center, USA), Kimberly Belmonte (University of Tulsa, USA), Selma Djokovic (Vera Institute, USA), Jose Lopez (Make the Road New York, USA), Amanda Matles (Pratt Institute, USA), Adilka Pimentel (Right to the City, USA), María Elena Torre (CUNY, USA) 18. In Defense of Education Justice: Postsecondary Institutional Decision Making for American Indian Programs and Services Jessica Ann Solyom (Arizona State University, USA) 19. Injustice Is Not an Investment: Student Activism, Climate Justice, and the Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign Joe Curnow (University of Manitoba, Canada) and Allyson Gross (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA) PART IV CONCLUSION 20. Conclusion Jerusha Conner (Villanova University, USA) and Sonia M. Rosen (Arcadia University, USA) Index About the Editors and Contributors

Reviews

The editors write useful introductions to each of these three sections, as well as a lengthy general introduction and conclusion . . . heavy on descriptions of political events, providing exemplars of activist organizational strategies. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. * Choice * This snapshot of the current social movements is a solid first source for information and research. * Library Journal *

Author Information

Jerusha Conner is Professor of Education at Villanova University, USA. Sonia M. Rosen is Assistant Professor of Education at Arcadia University, USA.

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