What is the Praxis Project?

The Praxis Project explores the role on-campus political organizations play in students’ political development and how political organizations, and more broadly, the relationships we have contribute to young people’s world-shaping and movement-building. This research project aims to explore how students attending Swarthmore College, a “socially engaged” campus community, define, discuss and understand activism. I want to know whether these definitions differ based on a student’s participation in a politically engaged organization on or off campus, and if not, what are the other factors that shape these various conceptions. This project will gather insights about the meaning-making processes of participants regarding how they conceive of fruitful participation in efforts for social transformation.

Using an online survey and interviews, I investigated how students conceive of activism, where they understand themselves within -or outside of- those definitions, and their reflections on what they do with what they know.

Research Questions

• How do Swarthmore students define, discuss and understand “activism”?
• Do students’ conceptions of activism differ based on their participation in political organizations – either on or off campus?
• What are the other factors that impact student’s definitions of activism and where they place
• themselves within or outside of those definitions?
• How does attending institutions, like Swarthmore, impact students’ own societal involvement?
• How do young people create political culture/community? 

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What’s been said already?

Existing literature in the disciplines of sociology, social movement studies, psychology, political science, youth studies, education studies and more had this to say about young people’s political participation, socialization, commitments and development.

Narratives about youth engagement in activism

Myths about an “apathetic youth”

The dominant narrative regarding young people’s civic and political engagement prior to and during the early 2000s, was one of “distress” and hopelessness over their supposed apathy and disinterest in current events and politics.¹ This reinforced a perception of young people as devoid of knowledge and initiative. But these assumptions were the result of comparing or framing young people’s political engagement within a script that was not theirs – how young people participate(d) did not align with dominant adult scripts of “effective political participation” (i.e voting, consuming news via newspaper, & protesting).²

The reality of young people’s nuanced political engagements

Despite a penchant for social justice being characteristic of younger generations, their political engagement has been heavily debated for decades. The truth is, young people have always been invested in their political realities (we knew this) and historically, their earnest political participation has been overlooked – especially the contributions of Black youth and youth of color to progressive movements.³ Generation Z has become with associated with all things related to activism and social justice: Our generation being the first “digital natives” and social media becoming an essential platform for raising awareness about social problems globally, what is considered political participation or political expression has expanded greatly in the past two decades.^{4 5} And as vigilante violence and repressive laws become more rampant, and the United States government still opts out of providing basic needs to its people during a global pandemic, young people continue to ideate new/old ways to challenge oppressive institutions, some of them becoming figureheads for these movements.

Young people, Activism and the University

A brief recap of US student activism

There is a well-researched history of student-led activism in the United States and its impact on larger movements. In earlier centuries, student activism was geared towards their respective institutions and in the 1960s – a pivotal time for social movements – students demanded justice beyond their schools but from larger systems and entities across the globe as well. Black students were already organizing prior to the sixties to desegregate public places of education and more. They continued to protest against racist institutions during the Civil Rights Movement, eventually forming Black Student Unions across the country. These organizations worked towards an increase in Black students and faculty, the implementation of Black studies courses and a department, and better working conditions for college staff.⁶ Black students’ activism provided other marginalized students ample examples to pull from in order to make demands and put pressure on their colleges.

Contemporary Student Activism

US student activism in the 21st century mirrors a lot of the work done by previous generations. Many of the issues taken on in the past, are the same ones college students are fighting for today – such as the climate crisis, anti-racism efforts, gun violence. This can be seen reflected on Swarthmore’s campus in recent years with the Black Affinity Coalition Strike in 2020⁷, the Sabra Boycott to call on the College to divest from buying products from Sabra, a company invested in Israeli apartheid led by Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine in 2021⁸, and most recently, efforts led by Solidarity@Swat to pressure Swarthmore’s board and administration to raise Swarthmore staff’s pay to a living wage, among other demands⁹.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had considerable impact on student activism. The physical distance pushed student leaders of affinity groups to find new ways to give current and incoming students a sense of belonging, while young people also turned to the internet (among other methods) to challenge their institutions and systemic racism at large. Again, it cannot be overstated how much social media and technology has offered “to inspire and organize action, as well as being a site of activism itself”.¹⁰ In recent years, American college, universities and high schools alike have mirrored the social unrest occurring globally in response to legislative attacks on trans and queer youth, the continued murders of Black people, and the exploitation of workers during a recession. Young people have put together protests, sit-ins, organized meetings, penned letters, created campaigns and more, all while likely experiencing some form of psychological distress and/or burnout during this mass disabling event. Overall, contemporary student activism emphasizes how dire our current political situation is and how many young people are committed to addressing these various inequities to make societal change.

Youth Sociopolitical Development and Political Cultures

On “praxis”

Paulo Freire was a Brazilian educator and philosopher who believed deeply in introspection what had to offer us in our learning process. In his influential book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”, Freire presents a framework of “praxis”: of critical action and reflection on the oppressive structures and logics that make up the world to ultimately transform it. Freire impels readers to come to consciousness by asking questions that ground us in our lived realities. Freire’s breakdown of praxis has become foundational for many in how they think about how to live out and act on the knowledge of legacies of oppression and life-stealing power dynamics. Freire’s framework has been referenced and used in research throughout various disciplines because of how applicable it is for trying to make clear what a critical consciousness impels us to do.

Youth Sociopolitical Development

In order to understand what young people consider solutions (activism), it is helpful to understand how they conceive of the problems (societal inequities). An outcome of liberation and developmental psychology, youth sociopolitical development theory is a framework concerning “[one’s] evolving critical understanding of the political, economic, cultural and other systemic forces that shape society and one’s status in it” (784).¹¹ This framework was designed by Roderick J. Watts and Constance Flanagan for empirical research on youth activism “with an emphasis on liberation”. The framework consists of four components:

• Worldview and Social Analysis: How does a young person understand the world and explain their experience of it?
• Sense of Agency: Does a young person believe in their capacity to impact others? Does a young person believe enough in their peers to work together towards a shared idea? How does a young person experience empowerment, if at all? (This component helps breakdown the in-between of critical reflection and acting on what was reflected on)
• Opportunity Structure: What structures are necessary for young people to feel supported as they try to become socially involved? This has especially to do with community, what facilitates or maintains community – like organizations, friendships, family, school, etc – or what disrupts it such as, mass incarceration, environmental degradation, or worker exploitation.
• & Societal Involvement: What are the behaviors that a young person ensues as they develop their worldview and how does those behaviors also inform their social analysis? This isn’t just about how frequently a young person does certain actions but also is curious about their commitment and empowerment while being involved.

This framework is helpful for my project in understanding the gap between reflection and action, as it pertains to Swarthmore students, and what factors, whether it is students’ sense of agency, existing opportunity structures or otherwise, need to be considered in order to understand young people’s sociopolitical development.

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My project adds to existing research done in these fields by adding nuance to our understandings of young people’s political engagements – as in, the activism young people actually do and don’t do, what actions they find valuable, and who they reflect and act with- by illustrating what youth sociopolitical development theory looks like in real life. Finally, my project also gives us insight to what youth political culture looks like at an institution like Swarthmore, an elite academic institution that also champions social justice, making my project unique and pertinent.

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Why does this matter? And why now?

I came to this project interested in how young people come to understand their own their power or capacity to work against oppressive systems and contribute to their communities. Conventional forms of activism like such as voting, and even protesting, and now raising awareness via social media are at the tips of most people’s tongues when it comes to describing activism. But, I wanted to know what young people thought about activism beyond those things, and if our preconceptions about activism, heavily influenced by culture and our social environment, were keeping us from other ways we can be socially involved and also consider how we show up interpersonally a. recognizing that this process doesn’t all happen at once.