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Harnessing the Net for Youth Activism #ws70

This mornings session on harnessing the net for Youth Activism was a good example of how IGF sessions may not lead to answers, but can support a journey towards some shared questions. In a session where it felt like there was as much discussion going on through Twitter as through the microphones in the room, speakers shared a number of case studies of youth activism, both campaigning for change and engaging with formal political structures as in Amelia Andersdotter's experience as a Pirate Party member of the European Parliament. After some difficulty with the audio, we also had a video presentation from Jillian York.

Some of the questions that I believe were raised by the session include:

What is youth? Is it about age? Or is it a state of mind? Or is it a matter of free-time?
People come to the discussion with very different ideas of what 'youth' means. As Nyx pointed out, talk of 'Kids' rather than 'youth' can reveal a certain view and agenda about young people. Eddan Katz through of the EFF explained that, although over 30, he felt that he was still a 'youth activist'.

Amelia explained though that many 'young activists' at IGF will not think of themselves as 'youth activists' but simply as 'activists' - working on key issues. The difference with 'youth activism' Amelia suggested is a matter of time: as a student you have a lot more free time and that affects the way you do activism.

I've written before about the importance of distinguishing different groups in 'youth' to talk about 'children', 'young people' and 'young adults' and in order to avoid certain groups within 'youth' being left out and excluded, and to help identify the different strategies and approaches that help engage each different group - although cultural differences mean these are not simple categories to define.

There is a difference between ‘young ideas’ and ‘young people’
A contribution from @bact highlighted the difference between a fresh ideas, and fresh people in discussions. This raises a question of what youth activism is supposed to be doing. Is youth activism about bringing new ideas to the debate? Or about bringing new energy and time to existing ideas?

Perhaps we get confused by talking about youth activism as one single thing, when it is really about young people's participation in many different causes: some are new causes, others are old causes, but young people have something to bring to them all.

Bridging the gap between technical activists and youth activists
I think it was Lindsay Beck who made the point we need to connect youth activisms and technical activists in response to a question from Nyx McLean about how activists can get access to information when their Internet access is filtered and blocked.

We didn't explore how that bridge might be made - or what it might look like - which leaves an interesting open question.
NadineKarbach's contribution on twitter sums up much of the discussion on empowering young people well: "the questions remain the same, online and offline - finding ways to get people active and take a stand, being engaged”

Making Connections
@jiew "Without privacy, internet is worth nothing" words from the youth in Denmark. #ws70 #igf10 (via Gry Hasselbalch)

There are clear access and privacy issues for any activism, but youth activism in particular where young people may not have access to the resources or connections to overcome barriers to their own freedom of expression.

Reflections on the dialogue
To get some reflections on the discussion I caught up with both Nyx McLean, and with Rafik and Hannan after the session to see what they thought of it. Look out for a shared video with their views here soon...

Nyx McLean on the session's frustrations

Rafik and Hanan on the session as the start of a discussion

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Interviews


Karlene Francis (Jamaica)
Ivar Hartmann (Brazil)
Elona Taka (Albania)
Fahd Batayneh (Jordan)
Edward Muthiga (Kenya)
Nnenna Nwakanma (Côte d'Ivoire)
Xu Jing (China)
Gao Mosweu (Botswana)
Jamil Goheer (Pakistan)
Virginia (Ginger) Paque (Venezuela)
Tim Davies (UK)
Charity Gamboa-Embley (Philippines)
Rafik Dammak (Tunisia)
Jean-Yves Gatete (Burundi)
Guilherme Almeida (Brazil)
Magaly Pazello (Brazil)
Sergio Alves Júnior (Brazil)
Adela Danciu (Romania)
Simona Popa (Romania)
Marina Sokolova (Belarus)
Andreana Stankova (Bulgaria)
Vedran Djordjevic (Canada)
Maria Morozova (Ukraine)
David Kavanagh (Ireland)
Nino Gobronidze (Georgia)
Sorina Teleanu (Romania)
Cosmin Neagu (Romania)
Maja Rakovic (Serbia)
Elma Demir (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Tatiana Chirev (Moldova)
Maja Lubarda (Slovenia)
Babatope Soremi (Nigeria)
Marilia Maciel (Brazil)
Raquel Gatto (Brazil)
Andrés Piazza (Argentina)
Nevena Ruzic (Serbia)
Deirdre Williams (St. Lucia)
Maureen Hilyard (Cook Islands)
Monica Abalo (Argentina)
Emmanuel Edet (Nigeria)
Mwende Njiraini (Kenya)
Marsha Guthrie (Jamaica)
Kassim M. AL-Hassani (Iraq)
Marília Maciel (Brazil)
Alfonso Avila (Mexico)
Pascal Bekono (Cameroon)

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