Global South Youth Studies: The RC34 Oxford University Press Handbook Presidential Project

This session will include presentations from contributors to the Oxford University Press Handbook of Global South Youth Studies (2021), which was edited by Sharlene Swartz, Adam Cooper, Clarence Batan and Laura Kropff-Causa, as well as those who offer critique, reflection or expansion on the subject. The handbook aimed to address an imbalance in youth studies research globally, promoting perspectives from the south. It consisted of three main sections and 40 chapters, engaging with concepts important for Global South youth and youth more generally. Concepts included personhood, precarity, fluid modernities, navigational capacities, ontological insecurity, collective agency, violences, intersectionality, de- and post-coloniality, consciousness and emancipation. The handbook foregrounded theories from the South and used these to engage with Global South youth research, rather than encouraging 'data-heavy' pieces which is historically how Global South youth research has been presented. The result is a unique handbook authored by a mix of experienced, mid-career and young scholars, sharing highly under-researched topics from original theoretical perspectives.

In this session we invite authors from the handbook to present their pieces, in conversation with editors, critics and allies, who will contextualise the project and reflect on its main challenges and achievements. The session will also be used to create a dialogue between researchers of youth studies from the Global South and North, with the ambition to make progress towards a truly global youth studies that is inclusive and representative.