“We're not here to be tokenized:” Exploring the political efficacy of youth activists through photovoice reflection interviews

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Youth Development and Resilience in Rural and Urban Contexts: Insights from North America, Rwanda, and Vietnam

Proposal

Over the last decade, attention to youth activism has steadily increased as the power behind the youth voice and vote has been shown to impact policies and elections. Likewise, youth activism is inherently unique, with current generations of youth growing up in an entirely connected world with unprecedented access to information. This innate connectivity has seeded an intersectional lens to issues and social justice causes and spurred the use of online platforms to inform, engage, and organize. Further, we see youth pursuing change through political means like policy advocacy and running for elected office. It is imperative to understand the “why” behind this movement since the values and attitudes of today’s youth indicate the future direction of political systems and democratic institutions.

To research the experiences of youth activists, I utilize the conceptualization of political efficacy as defined by Campbell et al. (1954) and Almond and Verba (1963) in that political efficacy is the belief in the capacity to make a difference through political means (e.g., voting, participatory policymaking, contacting public officials, serving in elected office). Research has found that individuals with a high level of political efficacy are more likely to vote, be interested in politics, and trust government institutions and political systems (Cohen et al., 2001; Kahne & Westheimer, 2006; Niemi et al., 1991). Other studies have delineated findings between internal and external political efficacy (Balch, 1974; Schulz, 2005).

However, there exists a dearth of research on political efficacy regarding the inspirations (external), motivations (external and internal), and aspirations (internal) of youth activists. Moreover, while youth activists do exhibit a consistent presence across social media platforms, few studies have taken up a mixed-method approach to contextualize and deepen an understanding of youth activists' online posts alongside in-person interviews. Therefore, this study explores the phenomenon of youth political actors through their social media posts and interviews with the following research questions:
1. What has inspired and motivates youth to engage in political behaviors?
2. What methods and behaviors do youth political activists use to engage?
3. What are the long-term hopes and aspirations of youth political activists?


Methodology
To explore the phenomenon of youth activism and political efficacy, youth activists (n=10) were invited to participate in a series of photovoice reflection interviews. The youth activists were recruited via convenience and snowball sampling, and the criteria were based on their offline and online political activity. The participating youth activists ranged from 17 to 26 years old, and five identified as male, three as female, and two as non-binary. Seven identified as Latino/a/x, two as white, and one as Indian. Three currently served in an elected position, while three were running for office, and two had previously run for office. The two other activists were leaders in policy-oriented organizations focused on human rights, climate change, and preserving democracy.

Over four months, I conducted a series of three semi-structured, photovoice reflection interviews with each of the youth activists. During each interview, social media posts of the youth activists were used as photovoice reflection prompts to discuss their political participation and current events. Overall, the interview questions explored the youth activists' inspirations, motivations, methods, and aspirations, with a sharp focus on their political efficacy (the ability to make change in relation to external events and self-perceived successes or failures).

Analysis of findings involved performing a visual content analysis of the youth’s social media posts, paying particular attention to messaging, characteristics displayed, and audience engagement (Khurana & Knight, 2021). This was paired with inductively and deductively coded interviews, resulting in thematic analysis (Riger & Sigurvinsdottir, 2016) and the triangulation of social media posts, the interview themes, and the research questions.

Conclusions, Expected Outcomes, Findings
The findings reveal the inspirations and ongoing motivations of youth activists’ political efficacy, methods and political engagement behaviors, and their hopes and aspirations. The youth activists cited personal encounters as inspiration and having received mentorship and encouragement from trusted adults to be politically engaged. The youth shared other activists’ online content as a motivating factor, alongside experiencing personal and political successes. The hopes and aspirations of the youth activists ranged from inspiring other youth to enacting transformational community change to securing the future of our planet and democratic societies.

While findings from the study offer significant insights into the political efficacy of youth activists, the design of this research is unique. Research on the intersection of politics and youth is on the rise. Yet, there is developing research on the deepening of youth activists’ online activity through serial interviews, especially during a general election year. Overall, this study offers a unique view of the future of politics through the lens of youth activists. Recommendations for other youth activists and additional possibilities for future research on this topic are shared.

Author

• Tara Lynn Bartlett, Technion University/Arizona State University