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Young People and Politics, Past and Present: Grassroots School Student Activism in Australia

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At a time when the Prime Minister of Australia is calling for more learning and less activism in schools, the question of young people’s political identity, responsibility and agency is at the forefront of public debate.  Of course, the vexed concern over children and young people – and their politics – is not new. Children and young people have long been a focus for the nation’s anxieties. In this seminar, connected to a current ARC Discovery Project researching community organising and Australian education policy 1970s-80s (Helen Proctor, Jessica Gerrard, Sue Goodwin), three leading researchers reflect on school student activism in Australian public life, past and present:

Isobelle Barrett Meyering, Macquarie University, is a historian of Australian feminism, childhood and the family and author of the recently published (2022) Feminism and the Making of a Child Rights Revolution, 1969-1979.

Philippa Collin, Western Sydney University, researches the role of the digital in the social, cultural and political lives of young people, including new forms of political participation.

Eve Mayes, Deakin University, is an ARC DECRA Fellow who researches climate justice, young people’s activism, and the politics of voice and feeling in education.

Facilitated by Sue Goodwin, Helen Proctor (University of Sydney) and Jessica Gerrard (University of Melbourne).

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