Young People as Agents of Sustainable Society

This book analyses young people's societal participation as a central dimension of their well-being and as vitally important to secure the sustainable future of humankind and the whole eco-social system. It develops a theoretical framework for analysing youth participation holistically, embedded in its everyday context, and as a relational phenomenon, underpinned by universal human needs. It introduces innovative methodological approaches to study youth engagements in society. This book will appeal to scholars and students of youth studies, sociology, sustainable development, youth participation and education. It also offers new knowledge and theoretical readings for policy experts on youth and sustainable development, as well as for NGOs working with youth. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Päivi Honkatukia is Professor of Youth Research at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Finland. Tiina Rättilä is Researcher and Project Manager at the University of Eastern Finland, Finland.

Introduction Part I: Structures and new models of youth participation 1. Youth and law drafting - developing quality youth participation in legislative processes and courtrooms 2. Experimenting with youth-centred e-participation - the case of the Virtual Council 3. Intergenerational justice and learning: from responsibilisation of young people towards sustainable well-being and environmental citizenship 4. Governance of young people's participation: critical reflections Part II: Critical views from the margins 5. Young adults' perceptions of citizenship outside and beyond labour market citizenship 6. "Am I not a lovely green-and-red, a watermelon?" Young people negotiating political participation from marginalised positions 7. Young people's climate activism on the move - case Finland Part III: To be(come) seen and heard - but how and how to study it? 8. Participatory research with young people - too little, too much, too romanticised? Reflections on co-research with young refugees 9. Co-constructing knowledge of refugee youths' lives in Finland - epistemological notes 10. Exploring the future together with young people - methodological considerations on playfulness, joy and silence as forms of participation 11. "How on Earth does one find a job in Finland?" Reflections on using documentary film as research method in studying young asylum seekers' employment prospects Conclusion