Geographies of children and youth II

This report offers a comparative perspective on the nature of youth agency in different parts of the world, demonstrating how ‘youth’ can provide a window on subaltern responses to economic restructuring. I outline key points about the theorization of agency within human geography and then describe the importance of young people’s resistance. I then discuss young people’s resourcefulness as a form of agency as well as ‘negative agency’: instances in which children and youth reproduce and deepen dominant structures of power. Finally, I identify a need to reflect further on the social nature of young people’s action and the importance of humour and irreverence in youth practice.