Young People Changing the World: The Theory and the Practice

Erik Olin Wright, well known for his theorising on the kinds of world we want and need, spoke at length about how to bring about change. He described four kinds of transformation: anarchic change which occurs when people choose to exit an existing system; ruptural or revolutionary change through protest or seizing power; interstitial change that happens in the small and large gaps and spaces visible to the observant as soft alternatives to existing policy, and has the effect of eroding society’s harms for some; and symbiotic or negotiated change, in which change for the powerless depends on taming existing systems, usually through legislative change. Drawing on a 5-year longitudinal study of university graduates across 6 African countries (n=520), this paper demonstrates how young people choose knowledge practices based on what is possible within their worlds rather than what they want to change. It further argues that young people need to be offered knowledge-based skills in order to bring about higher level 'epistepraxis'. Drawing inspiration from leadership theory (Desmond Tutu, Paolo Freire, Carolyn Shields and Julius Nyerere) it proposes a series of knowledge practices that attempt to change power structures and dynamics in society such that people’s access to livelihoods, dignity, rights and wellbeing are systemically ensured, rather than a focus on individual or institutional change.