Fierce Hope: Youth Activism in Aotearoa
About this ebook
– Qiane Matata-Sipu, Protect Ihumātao
Youth activism has been a defining feature of Aotearoa’s recent political landscape. Amidst these unsettling political times haunted by climate change, colonisation, ongoing inequality and the upheaval of the pandemic, the political actions of young New Zealanders are a source of inspiration, challenge and renewal.
Fierce Hope opens the doors on six influential activist groups: ActionStation, Generation Zero (Auckland), InsideOUT Kōaro, JustSpeak, Protect Ihumātao, and Thursdays in Black (University of Auckland). Activists from these groups explain vividly what future they want for our country, and how we can get there. They address an array of urgent issues, from indigenous rights to the justice system and imprisonment; from climate change to rainbow rights and sexual violence. In their voices we hear hope, anger, despair and anxiety – emotions which inform and galvanise activism.
The stories of Fierce Hope provide important insights into the immense demands of activism, and help inform radical new ways of living and being together in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Discover more
About the author
Karen Nairn is based in Ōtepoti/Dunedin. She draws on her geography and education background to engage in interdisciplinary research with young people. The activism project builds on earlier research with young people who grew up during New Zealand's economic reforms and explored their post-high school paths in the book Children of Rogernomics: A neoliberal generation leaves school.
Judith Sligo has a multidisciplinary background. Her research focuses on children, young people, and family well-being particularly from a rights perspective. She also has an interest in research methodologies, particularly qualitative and mixed methods research. She co-authored Children of Rogernomics: A Neoliberal Generation Leaves School.
Carisa R. Showden is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work traverses feminist political and social theory, gender and politics, and law and society scholarship. She is the author of Choices Women Make: Agency in Domestic Violence (University of Minnesota Press); and co-author of Youth Who Trade Sex in the U.S.: Intersectionality, Agency, Vulnerability (Temple).
Kyle R. Matthews is a PhD candidate at the University of Otago researching youth activism and radicalism in Aotearoa. His thesis explores how activist strategies and tactics are shaped by the state, state actors, public discourses, and activist groups' dynamics. He completed his Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies, researching New Zealand peace histories and nonviolence theory.
Joanna Kidman (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa) is Professor of Māori education at Victoria University of Wellington. Her research focuses on the politics of indigeneity, Māori youth and settler-colonial nationhood. She has worked extensively in Māori communities impacted by the New Zealand Wars and looked into how these conflicts have shaped tribal and national memory, identity and history.
