Unleash the Power within YOUth: Political Activism

At YouthxYouth, we root our work in the belief that activism, like life itself, takes so many forms, each one necessary and vital in our journey of cultivating a just and liberated world. This year’s annual YouthxYouth crowdfunding campaign is centred around raising support to sustain the work we do at YxY by showcasing the diversity of the activism that exists within our community, from artivists to community weavers, and everything in between. This crowdfunding campaign is an invitation, an open door if you will, to sustain the work of YxY through 2025 and beyond, and to witness the power and depth of activism. Through this campaign, we’re intentionally holding up a mirror to reflect the faces of those we serve and uplift, the activists whose journeys we nurture and who nurture us in return. As part of this, we are releasing a series of blogs that explore 10 different archetypes of activism. 

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Political Activism

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According to the UNDP, 2024 is the biggest election year in history with over 72 countries holding elections for collectively 3.7 billion eligible voters! This global electoral moment makes clear the importance of Political activism! So today we are going to explore Political activism! Political activists often work to bring about social change through policy changes and they engage directly with governance systems and power structures to create lasting institutional change. While all forms of activism are in some ways inherently political, Political activism specifically focuses on transforming policy, legislation, and systems of governance to address social injustices.

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Historically, Political activists have worked both within and outside formal political structures to push for transformation. They have played significant roles in liberation movements, combining glocal (locally rooted while remaining globally connected) organising with formal political work to challenge colonial and imperial structures. These movements, for us, demonstrate how Political activism can effectively bridge community mobilisation with institutional change.

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An example of Political activism is the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) which works to achieve environmental justice through strategic litigation. They were founded in 1992 by Dr. Mohiuddin Farooque and since have successfully challenged industrial pollution, illegal land grabbing, river encroachment, and more through hundreds of public interest lawsuits. 

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Source: Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association

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To us, this activism exists at the intersection of power, policy, and people, meaning that true justice requires the more strategic and more contextual understandings of systems. Political activists must balance policy interventions with more radical, transformative visions. This requires knowing when to negotiate within institutional frameworks and when to challenge those same structures fundamentally. Scholar activists (the activist archetype we explored before this) face a similar challenge.

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Lastly, political change looks different in various contexts. What works in one political system might be dangerous or ineffective in another. Thus, Political activists must be attuned to their specific context, understanding both the formal and informal ways power operates in their communities. They must also actively bridge the power that exists in the stories we tell, our relationships, and the regenerative capacities we hold with what is currently, singularly, seen and valued as powerful. Through this, these changemakers understand the mutuality of activism and power, sensemaking who holds it, how it's used, and how it can be redistributed in the process of creating the worlds of our deepest longings!

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“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.” 

Alice Walker

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Alongside the release of this blog we want to share an interview with Christine Majeni, a powerful Political activist in the YxY community whose work exemplifies what we have explored above! Christine is a marine conservationist and a proponent of the Blue Economy. She is committed to building a climate resilient future for coastal communities and has founded the wi-blue.org that aims to advance the contributions of girls and women in the development of an inclusive and sustainable Blue Economy. She works with Global Peace Foundation Kenya as a Youth Environment Volunteer coordinator where she spearheads youth involvement in climate action. She is a Mandela Washington Alumni 2024 and serves as a Board member at Kwetu Training Center for Sustainable Development. Christine is a former title holder of Miss Tourism Kilifi County in addition to her great work in conservation and has served in the Stockholm+50 Global Youth Taskforce furthering her impact in global environmental advocacy.

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Stay tuned to our social media for more conversations like this one!

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Through these interviews, we hope to bring you closer to the lived experiences of activists within our community, hopefully offering a fuller understanding of what it means to be an activist, in its vast multiplicities.

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As we journey through the other archetypes of activism we invite you to reflect on the interconnectedness of these roles. While each archetype has its distinct facets, together they make up our YouthxYouth community and how magical is that!

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Our crowdfunding campaign is about celebrating this diversity, and by contributing, you are not only helping sustain YxY’s work but also joining a community that values and nurtures a broad spectrum of activism. We invite you to support those who dare to act, whether it's on the frontlines or behind the scenes, as we envision and work towards the more beautiful futures our hearts so deeply long for.

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Donate now!

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