Forum: youth as boundary actors in international studies

Abstract

Youth represent a great part of humanity and have always been active and intriguing political actors, yet youth remain sidelined in international studies. Issues of social identity perception and its consequences have been embraced by post-positivist approaches in international studies. Yet, while race, gender, and class challenges are shaking the discipline, age is a key research gap. To fill this gap, the conceptual departure of this forum is to study youth, taking 16-30/35 as an age range, as 'boundary actors' in international politics. We assembled contributions that address this conceptual departure on topics, including health, conflict, climate change, and indigenous people's rights, across all world regions with specific focuses on Africa and Asia. Overall, the forum demonstrates that youth are able to move the boundaries: (i) of norms in international politics by asking for a more inclusive implementation of human rights and/or environmental justice; (ii) of procedures by suggesting to broaden decision-making; (iii) of international activism by combining social media and protests as new strategies. Taken together, the contributions show that youth have and are a world-building project, not just a world-confirming project.