ABSTRACT

Background

Research about learning in youth activism has generated important findings about how young people learn to critique inequality and exercise collective agency. This emerging line of research, however, has been limited by its geographic focus in North America, a tendency to assume single bounded groups as sites of learning, and limited engagement with theories of power and social change.

Methods

We draw on data from a three-year ethnography of a South African youth-led organizing group, Equal Education (EE), which successfully pressured the national government to adopt an education bill that it had previously resisted. Our inquiry is guided by a broad question: how did EE members learn to build power in this contentious sociopolitical context?

Findings

Facilitation and apprenticeship by more experienced near peers in EE supported young people’s understanding of inequality and their participation in nonviolent political activism. When stepping into a contentious public sphere, young people learned how to build political relationships with trade unions and community elders in order to claim power and influence political change.

Contribution

This study adds to literature on learning in youth activism by showing how young people learn how to navigate contentious politics and exercise political power through multigenerational alliances.

中文翻译：

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学习在一个有争议的公共领域中争取权力：南非青年运动形成的研究

摘要

背景

关于青年行动主义中的学习的研究已获得有关青年如何学习批评不平等和行使集体代理的重要发现。但是，这一新兴的研究领域受到其在北美的地理关注，将单一界限的群体视为学习场所的趋势以及对权力和社会变革理论的有限参与的限制。

方法

我们从南非青年领导的组织平等教育（EE）的三年民族志数据中汲取了数据，该组织成功地向中央政府施加了压力，要求其采纳以前曾反对的教育法案。我们的询问受到一个广泛问题的指导：EE成员如何在这种有争议的社会政治背景下学会建立权力？

发现

EE中经验更丰富的同龄人提供的便利和学徒服务，支持了年轻人对不平等及其对非暴力政治活动的参与的理解。当进入有争议的公共领域时，年轻人学会了如何与工会和社区长者建立政治关系，以争取权力并影响政治变革。

贡献

这项研究通过展示年轻人如何通过多代同盟来学习如何驾驭有争议的政治和行使政治权力，为青年主动主义的学习增加了文献。