Intergenerational Relationships in Youth Activist Networks

Abstract

Youth political and civic engagement has been subject of significant scrutiny and debate. However, these conversations have not often explicitly considered the roles of adults within youth political spaces. This essay makes visible the range of visions for adults’ roles in youth politics embedded within youth engagement approaches: from teachers and primary socializers, to listeners awaiting youth perspectives, to partners and allies. It then focuses specifically on intergenerational collaboration within youth activist networks, showing how such collaboration benefits both youth and adults. Adults provide youth with institutional infrastructures, financial resources, historical continuity, and access to authorities, and they play a particularly important role in supporting the activism of more marginalized young people who otherwise have less access to these resources. Youth also impact and educate adults with new ideas and energy. However, while intergenerational collaboration has clear benefits, it is also is a challenge in the context of age- stratified societies.