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Home > CLRJ > Vol. 44 > Iss. 2 (2024)

 

Children's Legal Rights Journal

Abstract

Throughout history, many successful nonviolent action campaigns have been led by young people, from the Free Speech movement to the Civil Rights movement to the Black Lives Matter movement. Recent social movements worldwide - from Latin America to Hong Kong and beyond - have drawn on the strength of mass youth mobilization. It is difficult to imagine the landscape of social activism today without the efforts of young people.

Today, social movements are meeting the pressing crises of our time with unique vision, scale, and infrastructure - pointing the way toward transformation, with youth leading that charge. Studies show that creativity and tactical innovation are critical determinants of social movement success - and young activists have, and are, driving tactical innovation in digital spaces and offering creative fuel for social movements.

Recent research has also reinforced that youth involvement in social movements is likelier to elicit larger, popular participation. In sum, youth participation can creatively transform and broaden movements, laying the groundwork for larger reforms.

Still, there is much to learn about how young people influence social movements.

This article will discuss how youth are leading the activism charge around the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Specifically, it will examine the historical importance of youth in Gaza, how social media now provides youth in Gaza and around the globe with a platform to speak on social issues directly, and how youth are finding new, creative ways to utilize social media to aid their organizing efforts. Given that the crisis in Gaza is mainly affecting children, youth's contribution to the movement is especially important. For the youth activists in Gaza, it is a deeply personal issue. For the youth around the globe, it connects to broader liberation.

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