Futureless and Voiceless? Citizenship, Democracy and Youth Climate Activism

2019年研究的背景是街头抗议。全球和英国的气候危机都是成年人示威的主要驱动力，令一些人惊讶的是，学生也是如此。受瑞典16岁的气候活动家Greta Thunberg的启发，孩子们在2018年开始了唯一的抗议活动，他们建立了一个国际青年气候运动（IYCM）。这场运动以其成员--主要是学龄儿童--和其选择的抗议方法而闻名：学校罢工。在2019年3月第一次英国学校罢工之后，参与人数增加，到2019年底，数十万儿童参加了英国境内的气候行动主义，估计全球有140万儿童参与研究经常声称年轻人冷漠，脱离政治，而投票等行为正在被社会行动主义所取代。在儿童中，存在着一种政治参与和各种形式抗议的动力，儿童要求在关于如何应对气候危机的辩论中有发言权。因此，IYCM提供了重要的洞察到有争议的未来的政治，而作为明天的选民，IYCM的成员可能会重塑主流politics.Aims和ObjectivesThis研究旨在更好地了解青年气候行动主义作为一个社会运动如何代表新形式的公民，政治参与和抗议。此外，它还感兴趣的是，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、期望和恐惧如何促使他们参与国际气候变化年。此外，它还将研究成年人对学校罢工运动的反应。这将说明儿童这个在社会中经常被歪曲和边缘化的群体的令人惊讶的干预是如何被“成年人”接受的。儿童和他们的意见是否得到了接受和鼓励，或者成年人的反应是一种更传统的观点，即儿童应该被看到而不是被听到？这项研究的好处这项研究希望提供新的见解，儿童如何看待他们在社会中的地位，因为他们相对无能为力，年轻人如何看待公民身份以及儿童认为政治参与的价值。该项目还将揭示儿童对未来的感觉，以更好地了解气候危机等问题如何影响青少年心理健康。因此，我的研究结果将有利于教育工作者，政策制定者，英国和全球政治家，非政府组织和那些希望与儿童就政治问题进行接触的人。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举措方面也将具有相当大的价值。此外，这项研究将通过解决我们对青年行动主义的知识差距，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威胁时，以及儿童认为他们应该在决定这些未来时拥有什么样的声音，来促进学术理解。此外，通过研究各种不同的成人声音对学校罢工和国际青年管理年的反应和反应，这项研究将提供有价值的见解，有助于在今天的成人和明天的成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.