Citation

Boonzaier F, Lehtonen J, Pattman R. Afr. Safety Promot. 2015; 13(1): 1-6.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Institute for Social and Health Sciences, University of South Africa)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Childhood and youth are developmental stages representing both opportunities and challenges. Although youth, to a large degree, represents a time of risk exacerbated by inequalities of gender, age, class, sexual orientation and other differences, it may also represent a time of transformation and an important opportunity for engaging toward social change. This special issue emerges out of a collaborative project titled, "Engaging South African and Finnish youth towards new traditions of non-violence, equality and social well-being", funded by the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Academy of Finland. While this special issue focuses on work in the South African context, the collaborative project asked questions about both the South African and the Finnish contexts in an effort to address questions such as, to what extent work (research and practice) with youth addresses the key imperatives of (un)employment, age, generational tensions, violence and gender inequities in these two contexts. It also asked about the dominant discourses on youth, sexuality, gender, race and other forms of social difference informing work with young people. The project brought together researchers and activists working on issues of gender and sexuality; violence; income, racial, cultural, gender/sexual, health, age/generation, and other forms of social (in)equality; and social well-being among young people in the south and north. We approached this work through a transdisciplinary framework with the aim of critically reflecting on and learning lessons about policy, practices and programmes on engaging young people towards social change...

Language: en