Futureless and Voiceless? Citizenship, Democracy and Youth Climate Activism

2019年研究的背景是街头抗议。无论是在全球还是在英国，气候危机都是成年人示威的主要推动力，让一些人感到意外的是，小学生也参加了示威。16岁的瑞典气候活动家格蕾塔·通贝里（Greta Thunberg）于2018年发起了一场抗议活动，受到她的启发，儿童们建立了一个国际青年气候运动（IYCM）。这场运动的引人注目之处在于它的成员——主要是学龄儿童——以及它选择的抗议方式：罢课。自2019年3月英国第一次学校罢工以来，参与人数不断增加，到2019年底，英国有数十万儿童参加了气候行动主义，全球估计有140万儿童参与其中。研究经常声称，年轻人对政治漠不关心，不参与政治，而投票等行为正在被社会行动主义所取代。人们正在推动政治参与和各种形式的抗议，孩子们要求在如何应对气候危机的辩论中发出自己的声音。因此，IYCM为有争议的未来的政治提供了重要的见解，而作为明天的选民，IYCM的成员可能会重塑主流政治。本研究旨在更好地理解青年气候行动主义作为一种社会运动如何代表公民身份、政治参与和抗议的新形式。此外，它还对参与青年气候运动的儿童如何思考未来以及他们对自己未来的感受、期望和恐惧如何激励他们参与国际青年气候运动感兴趣。此外，调查还将调查成年人对罢课运动的反应。这将阐明，作为社会中经常被歪曲和边缘化的群体，儿童的干预是如何被“成年人”接受的。孩子们和他们的观点得到了接受和鼓励吗？还是成年人的反应是一种更传统的观点，认为孩子应该被看到而不是被听到？本研究的好处本研究希望为以下问题提供新的见解：儿童如何看待他们在相对无力的社会中的地位，年轻人如何看待公民身份，以及儿童认为政治参与的价值是什么。该项目还将揭示儿童对未来的感觉，以便更好地了解气候危机等问题如何影响青少年的心理健康。因此，我的发现对教育工作者、政策制定者、英国和全球政治家、非政府组织以及那些希望与儿童接触政治问题的人都是有益的。通过更好地了解与未来儿童有关的哪些问题最需要解决以及如何解决，它在设计解决青年心理健康问题的倡议方面也将具有相当大的价值。此外，这项研究将有助于学术理解，解决我们对青年行动主义的认识差距，儿童自己如何看待他们的未来，特别是在反思气候危机等存在的威胁时，以及儿童认为他们在决定这些未来时应该有什么发言权。此外，通过研究各种不同的成年人对学校罢工和IYCM的回应和反应，本研究将提供有价值的见解，有助于在今天的成年人和明天的成年人之间建立有意义的对话。

Context to the Research2019 was marked by street protest. Both globally and in the UK climate crisis was a key driver of demonstrations among adults and, to the surprise of some, schoolchildren. Inspired by Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist who had started a sole protest in 2018, children have established an international youth climate movement (IYCM). This movement is notable for its membership - school age children in the main - and its chosen method of protest: the school strike. Following the first UK school strike in March 2019 participation grew and by the end of 2019 hundreds of thousands of children had participated in climate activism within the UK, with an estimated 1.4 million children involved worldwide Research often claims young people are apathetic and disengaged from politics whilst acts such as voting are being replaced with social activism What the school strikes suggest is that, among children, there is a drive for political participation and forms of protest, with children demanding a voice in the debate about how to respond to the climate crisis. Therefore, the IYCM provides significant insight into the politics of contested futures while, as the voters of tomorrow, members of the IYCM could potentially reshape mainstream politics.Aims and ObjectivesThis research aims to better understand how youth climate activism as a social movement represents new forms of citizenship, political participation and protest. Furthermore, it is also interested in how children involved in the youth climate movement think about the future and how their feelings, expectations and fears about their own futures motivate their participation in the IYCM. Additionally, it will also look at how adults have reacted to the school strike movement. This will illuminate how the somewhat surprising intervention of children, an often misrepresented and marginalised group within society, has been received by "the grown-ups". Have children and their opinions been embraced and encouraged or has the reaction of the adult population been a more traditional view that children should be seen and not heard?Benefits of this ResearchThis research hopes to provide fresh insight into how children view their position within society given their relative powerlessness, how young people feel about citizenship and what children consider the value is of political engagement. The project will also shed light on childhood feelings of futurelessness to provide better understanding of how issues like the climate crisis impact upon youth mental health. My findings will therefore be beneficial to educators, policymakers, UK and global politicians, NGOs and those looking to engage with children on political issues. It will also be of considerable value in the design of initiatives that address youth mental health by providing a better understanding of what issues attached to the future children most need addressed and how. Additionally, this research will benefit academic understanding by addressing gaps in our knowledge about youth activism, how children themselves view their futures especially when reflecting upon existential threats such as the climate crisis and what voice children believe they should have in deciding those futures. Additionally, by researching responses and reactions from a wide variety of different adult voices bto the school strikes and the IYCM this study will provide valuable insights that could be beneficial in establishing meaningful dialogue between todays adults and the adults of tomorrow.