WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:06.000 As mentioned, there are those who argue that youth activism today is at its lowest points. 00:00:06.500 --> 00:00:13.920 They emphasize movements such as those in the USA, for example Black Panthers who fought 00:00:13.944 --> 00:00:17.804 for the rights of black people and oppressed people in America, 00:00:17.828 --> 00:00:22.000 or student movements and anti-war movement during the Vietnam war. 00:00:22.500 --> 00:00:29.238 In the 1970s, it was punk movement that had similar role - punkers wanted social change, and 00:00:29.262 --> 00:00:36.000 they established their own music, fashion and lifestyle in opposition to the dominant culture. 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:43.000 Countless individuals have written on and about the student movement of the 1960s. 00:00:43.800 --> 00:00:51.049 Despite the topical and stylistic differences between the works, what cannot be disputed is that each author 00:00:51.073 --> 00:00:59.000 credits the student movement as having played a large role in helping to facilitate drastic changes within society. 00:00:59.800 --> 00:01:09.595 Aside from their obvious link to the anti-Vietnam war movement, the students were also heavily involved in social justice for the civil rights movement, 00:01:09.619 --> 00:01:20.000 the women's liberation movement, and gay rights, as well as environmental issues and freedom of speech, among other things. 00:01:20.500 --> 00:01:30.000 Today, as some say, youth are self-centered, narcissistic and so on, and they take no part in civic participation. 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:36.846 Others however posit that countless youth are civically engaged and involved in movements 00:01:36.870 --> 00:01:43.000 outside of traditional political groups such as trade unions and political parties. 00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:48.116 If only small percentage of young people are activists, maybe we are 00:01:48.140 --> 00:01:54.000 underestimating the importance of their practices and the ways they use technology. 00:01:54.500 --> 00:02:03.738 And Kassimir concludes that "our understanding of contemporary youth activism - local and global, national and transnational - lags 00:02:03.762 --> 00:02:08.089 woefully behind the political practises of young people... 00:02:08.113 --> 00:02:13.000 Many young people have found their voices and are speaking up for change". 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:20.488 It also stands to reason that since youth spend countless hours on the social media, 00:02:20.512 --> 00:02:27.000 these too should be primary tools for facilitating civic participation and activism. 00:02:27.500 --> 00:02:31.000 So, how are young people using these tools for activism? 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:38.000 Another Scholar recently explored Facebook and Twitter as resources for youth activism. 00:02:38.500 --> 00:02:49.238 And as he claims, the youth of today are challenging tradition and engaging in activist practices that either go unnoticed or are disregarded 00:02:49.262 --> 00:03:00.000 as non-activism when applying the old terms: technological advancement has necessitated a new way of understanding activism among young people. 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:10.000 The nowadays world is being transformed by young people, "but critically and crucially through means and methods that are unfamiliar to adults". 00:03:10.500 --> 00:03:19.000 Researchers remain polarized by the ongoing discussions about the potential of the Internet in creating social change. 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:32.000 Some remain sceptics who do not believe in the possibility of the Internet in creating social change, but there is a growing number of studies that oppose these claims. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:39.488 Their results suggest that the potential of current technologies and specifically, social media, 00:03:39.512 --> 00:03:46.000 are being effectively used by young activists who are forming new modes of activism. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:53.553 The results clearly suggest that although Facebook's potential to connect young activists is enormous, 00:03:53.577 --> 00:04:01.000 sustaining a young person's interest in a group and in a cause is a bit more challenging. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:13.000 "Tweets", or messages sent, and "re-tweets", re-sending messages made by other posters, far outnumber posts made on Facebook pages. 00:04:13.300 --> 00:04:23.000 Moreover, unlike the Facebook groups, individual members of Twitter tend to be more diverse in the number of issues they address. 00:04:23.200 --> 00:04:29.000 These findings reveal that many young people are currently involved in activism. 00:04:29.300 --> 00:04:37.000 However, obstacles such as the prevalent mythology that positions youth as disengaged quickly need to be disproven. 00:04:37.300 --> 00:04:48.000 Young people are definitively taking advantage of social media to facilitate youth activism, but the effectiveness of these actions are not as explicit. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:58.000 During our Mediactive youth training, Jelena Spremo wrote an article about the role of social media during the Arab Spring. 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:08.138 The Arab Spring was a wave of demonstrations and protests that, from 2010 onwards, affected the Middle Eastern countries and brought 00:05:08.162 --> 00:05:18.000 downfall to regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, and affected a number of others, including Jordan, Syria, Morocco end alike. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:26.000 According to several analysts, youth activism on social networks played a major role in these events. 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:33.138 Namely, as public media were constantly censoring information and blocking every attempt of 00:05:33.162 --> 00:05:39.500 organizing protests, youth needed to join this movement by using other different approaches. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:48.000 In some countries, such as Tunisia and Egypt, they used social media for organizing demonstrations and spreading awareness. 00:05:48.700 --> 00:05:54.000 Also, they were sharing information, promoting strikes and other rebellions. 00:05:54.500 --> 00:05:58.000 You Tube, Facebook and Twitter had the main role. 00:05:58.700 --> 00:06:06.000 Thousands of people were informing each other about the protest by Facebook pages and Twitter posts. 00:06:06.700 --> 00:06:13.000 And this approach attracted tens of thousands followers that participated in the platform for political action. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:21.500 There were also situations in which government blocked access to websites and/or Internet in the entire country. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:27.000 In Tunisia government blocked some websites through which protests were coordinated. 00:06:27.500 --> 00:06:33.345 In Egypt, government at first blocked only Facebook and Twitter, but then the whole 00:06:33.369 --> 00:06:40.000 Internet suffered a blackoutin an attempt to stop the protests, and this lasted for 5 days. 00:06:40.500 --> 00:06:43.000 Eventually, this encouraged the protests even more. 00:06:44.500 --> 00:06:50.238 As Jelena Spremo concludes: "Activism through the social media proved to be arguably 00:06:50.262 --> 00:06:56.000 one of the best new ways for gaining freedom of speech, democracy, human rights etc. 00:06:56.500 --> 00:07:05.000 But on the other hand, there are potentially very important questions about the usage of the social media as a long term solution. 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:15.000 Will clicks, shares and likes be enough for changing the world or there is need for more involvement with our political reality? 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:24.000 In addition, this kind of approach is very sensitive and we got familiar with that in cases in Egypt and Tunisia. 00:07:25.200 --> 00:07:30.000 Time will give the answers, but for now, we can't neglect its power." 00:07:30.500 --> 00:07:34.000 So, to conclude, why is Youth Activism so important? 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:45.957 In the Preface to the Youth Activism Encyclopaedia, editors respond to this question as follows: "If democratic societies are to survive and flourish 00:07:45.981 --> 00:07:51.738 and if authoritarian governments are to become more democratic, they need citizens who are 00:07:51.762 --> 00:07:58.000 informed and concerned and who take action when necessary to improve the status quo." 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:05.388 Finally, many young people today, especially in the Balkans, are too often ready to say - yes, this is 00:08:05.412 --> 00:08:12.000 all great, but it is all for nothing as well, because young people cannot influence or change anything. 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:24.715 Well, the shortest answer for them would be to refer to one Youth Activist's toolkit that uses a motto the following words of a famous female anthropologist 00:08:24.739 --> 00:08:36.000 Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:43.000 In other words, it was always that a few dedicated people inspired many and pushed for a change. 00:08:44.300 --> 00:08:49.638 Now, in the remainer of this course, I will present 2 case studies of those inspiring 00:08:49.662 --> 00:08:55.000 young people and activists who fought and continue to fight for a change in the world. 00:08:56.300 --> 00:09:02.203 Our first story is about Kony 2012, which affected children in central Africa, and the other one 00:09:02.227 --> 00:09:08.000 is the story or Malala Yousafzai, the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate for Peace. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:14.488 Both stories illustrate how young people can inspire and bring change on the global 00:09:14.512 --> 00:09:20.000 level, and how using social media can be a powerful and effective tool in that fight.