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The Elephant in the Room: Youth, Cognition, and Student Groups in Mass Social Movements

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  • Hank Johnston

    (Department of Sociology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-4423, USA)

Abstract

Student and youth groups are often vanguard actors in turbulent times. This article proposes that when they are part of broader social movements, they can introduce strong age-cohort influences in a movement’s development. These influences derive from the balance between youths and adults in a movement and their interrelationships, especially over the long term when demands remain unanswered by the state. Other influences include resource availability, which tends to cluster with older generations, tactical specialization according to age cohorts, and the tendency of groups with younger members to be willing to take greater risks, be more passionate in their demands, and more militant in their tactics. In this report, we identified several empirically recognized cognitive dimensions relevant to youthful participation: (1) identity search, (2) risk taking, (3) emotionality, and (4) cognitive triggering. These cognitive factors of late adolescence and early adulthood can energize a movement when young cohorts participate but also run the risk of alienating older members and public opinion. We discussed how mass movements for political and/or cultural change are frequently intergenerational and how intergenerational relations can mitigate the inward-turning and militant tendencies of young adults. In broad movements for social change, these relations can create a division of labor in which students are the vanguard actors and the older members mobilize the social and material resources available to them. Under other conditions, youth and student groups wield a two-edged sword with the capability of energizing a movement or alienating older cohorts of militants and public opinion.

Suggested Citation

  • Hank Johnston, 2019. "The Elephant in the Room: Youth, Cognition, and Student Groups in Mass Social Movements," Societies, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-19, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:9:y:2019:i:3:p:55-:d:256227
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paul M. Thompson & Jay N. Giedd & Roger P. Woods & David MacDonald & Alan C. Evans & Arthur W. Toga, 2000. "Growth patterns in the developing brain detected by using continuum mechanical tensor maps," Nature, Nature, vol. 404(6774), pages 190-193, March.
    2. Carlo Genova, 2018. "Youth Activism in Political Squats between Centri Sociali and Case Occupate," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-25, September.
    3. Inglehart, Ronald, 1981. "Post-Materialism in an Environment of Insecurity," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 75(4), pages 880-900, December.
    4. Hank Johnston & Eitan Y. Alimi, 2012. "Primary Frameworks, Keying and the Dynamics of Contentious Politics: The Islamization of the Chechen and Palestinian National Movements," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 60(3), pages 603-620, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Blanche-T. & Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol, 2022. "(Non-)Politicized Ageism: Exploring the Multiple Identities of Older Activists," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Antonio Cortés-Ramos & Juan Antonio Torrecilla García & Miguel Landa-Blanco & Francisco Javier Poleo Gutiérrez & María Teresa Castilla Mesa, 2021. "Activism and Social Media: Youth Participation and Communication," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-13, September.

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