What does today’s activist care about?

Youth activism has been a defining feature of Aotearoa’s political landscape. Fierce Hope: Youth Activism in Aotearoa (Bridget Williams Books, RRP $39.99) spotlights six influential activist groups.

Over three years 90 people from these groups gave 143 interviews to the book’s authors, including co-author and Dunedin academic Karen Nairn.

What struck you about today’s youth activist? What do they care about and how do they differ, if at all, from their parents or grandparents’ generations?

I was struck by how passionate and determined the activists in our study are. They care about many of the issues other generations have campaigned about – Ma¯ ori land rights, the right to be safe from sexual violence, fair treatment in the criminal justice system, economic justice.

What is different is how pervasive the concern about climate change was across all of our groups.

Did any particular story stick out to you?

All the groups’ significant achievements were important and we hope this book does justice to each group’s story.

The main story we want to emphasise is the hard work all these groups put into their campaigns. There’s a lot of emotional labour in activism – including looking after all the relationships within and between groups – as well as all the practical tasks of running long campaigns.

There’s a lot of emotional labour in activism – including looking after all the relationships within and between groups... Karen Nairn, above

How has social media changed the landscape of activism for young people?

Qiane Matata-Sipu from Protect Ihuma¯ tao sums up what has changed: ‘‘In some of the old movements the narrative was dictated by the media. Whereas here the narrative is dictated by us on our own social media channels. If people see a report on TV, they come straight to our Facebook page to see if it’s true...’’

All the groups used social media to communicate their vision and narrative. Online and offline modes of activism bolstered each other, and both were useful for connecting with other activists and maintaining a collective.

What are the most pressing issues for young people today?

The most pressing issues were represented across all our groups: indigenous rights, climate justice, feminist and queer rights, and social and economic justice.

Activists talked about issues in an intersectional way, seeing connections across issues. And almost all of the activists, regardless of what ‘‘issue’’ they were working on when we interviewed them, were deeply concerned about climate change.

More specifically: Protect Ihuma¯ tao is fighting the impact of colonisation by reclaiming indigenous land confiscated in 1863. JustSpeak aims to reduce and ultimately eliminate incarceration.

ActionStation is a people- powered online petition platform addressing diverse social and economic justice issues. InsideOUT Ko¯ aro is promoting rainbow youth visibility and safety in schools and communities.

Thursdays in Black (University of Auckland) is working towards a future without sexual violence. Generation Zero (Auckland) is working towards a zero- carbon future to address the threat of climate change.