Stressing Equality or Embracing Diversity? How Teen Activists Navigate Societal Beliefs About Youth Activism

Abstract

Civically and politically participating children and teens encounter contrasting societal beliefs about their identities and actions. Some portray them as heroes, others as naive or rebellious; some celebrate their efforts, while others dismiss or diminish them. This study explores how teen activists experience, respond to and challenge these beliefs that shape their participation and everyday lives. A Q methodology study was conducted with twenty civically and politically engaged teens (aged 13–18) in Czechia. Participants sorted and reflected upon statements representing prevailing societal views on youth activism. The analysis revealed shared experiences of how societal beliefs about youth activism were lived and felt, yet distinct strategies for navigating the unequal adult-child power relations that operated as symbolic barriers within them. One group expressed a critical and egalitarian attitude, persistently questioning how adult discourses and stereotypes restrict youth participation and demanding recognition of young people as equally capable civic actors. The other group, reflecting a moderate and diversity attitude, accommodated societal beliefs about age-related differences while emphasising that young citizens' role in democracy is distinct but no less valuable than that of adults. Together, the findings show how the teen activists negotiated ingrained societal beliefs about youth activism, often alone or with only peer support, while turning these constraints into acts of redefinition and resistance.