(Dis)Entangling Young People’s Everyday Lives from the Anthropocene amid Escalating Disasters and Climate Change: Justice, Activism and Implications for Those Working with Young People
Monday, 7 July 2025: 15:00-16:45
Location: SJES008 (Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences (JES))
RC34 Sociology of Youth (host committee)
RC39 Sociology of Disasters
Language: English
Young people have been represented in recent scholarship regarding the Anthropocene, however, little focus has been given to those young people whose everyday lives are impacted by climate related disasters. Climate and disaster scholars have been hesitant to explore this politically, yet there are calls to acknowledge and critically examine the human-nature entanglement. Many young people perceive a clash of material and economic interests, restricting their understanding of, and response, to the climate crisis. Yet, the experience of disasters for many young people, living outside urban environments, leads to differing perceptions of the human-nature entanglement and the impacts on their social worlds and lives. As a result, capturing their experience and applying an Anthropocene theoretical lens to their experience is vital.
The gravity of the Anthropocene and the effects of human beings on world systems requires us to re-consider long-held assumptions and beliefs in all aspects of life. For youth and community workers and others working with young people, awareness of the magnitude of change wrought by humans demands careful review of how we should respond. It should not be ‘business as usual’. The significant challenges raise questions about the theoretical basis of our work; ethical issues and practice implications (Gorman et al., 2024), and about our relationship to climate activism (Cooper et al., 2024).
This session invites discussions on the changing priorities, practices, and practitioner education for youth and community workers, for those working with young people in other roles, and for youth climate activists.
Session Organizers:
Trudi COOPER, Edith Cowan University, Australia,
Fiona MACDONALD, Victoria University, Australia and
Maria PISANI, University of Malta, Malta
Chairs:
Tim CORNEY, Victoria University, Australia and
Trudi COOPER, Edith Cowan University, Australia
Oral Presentations
(Un)Surprising Disconnect? Young People’s Perceptions of Climate Change, Disasters and Climate Action, Living in Australia’s Disaster-Affected Regional and Rural Communities in Victoria.
Brett WOODS, Victoria University, Australia;
Fiona MACDONALD, Victoria University, Australia;
Tim CORNEY, Victoria University, Australia;
Nicole DANKS, Victoria University, Australia;
Jamie GORMAN, Australia
Distributed Papers
