Article Version of Record

(Im)possible conversations? activism, childhood and everyday life

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Nolas, Sevasti-Melissa
Varvantakis, Christos
Aruldoss, Vinnarasan

Abstract / Description

The paper offers an analytical exploration and points of connection between the categories of activism, childhood and everyday life. We are concerned with the lived experiences of activism and childhood broadly defined and especially with the ways in which people become aware, access, orient themselves to, and act on issues of common concern; in other words what connects people to activism. The paper engages with childhood in particular because childhood remains resolutely excluded from practices of public life and because engaging with activism from the marginalized position of children’s everyday lives provides an opportunity to think about the everyday, lived experiences of activism. Occupying a space ‘before method’, the paper engages with autobiographical narratives of growing up in the Communist left in the USA and the historical events of occupying Greek schools in the 1990s. These recounted experiences offer an opportunity to disrupt powerful categories currently in circulation for thinking about activism and childhood. Based on the analysis it is argued that future research on the intersections of activism, childhood and everyday life would benefit from exploring the spatial and temporal dimension of activism, to make visible the unfolding biographical projects of activists and movements alike, while also engaging with the emotional configurations of activists’ lives and what matters to activists, children and adults alike.

Keyword(s)

activism childhood prefiguration everyday life communism United States of America schools occupations Greece cross-cultural perspectives

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2016-05-24

Journal title

Journal of Social and Political Psychology

Volume

4

Issue

1

Page numbers

252–265

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

Nolas, S.-M., Varvantakis, C., & Aruldoss, V. (2016). (Im)possible conversations? activism, childhood and everyday life. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 4(1), 252–265. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v4i1.536
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Nolas, Sevasti-Melissa
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Varvantakis, Christos
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Aruldoss, Vinnarasan
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2018-11-26T12:45:18Z
  • Made available on
    2018-11-26T12:45:18Z
  • Date of first publication
    2016-05-24
  • Abstract / Description
    The paper offers an analytical exploration and points of connection between the categories of activism, childhood and everyday life. We are concerned with the lived experiences of activism and childhood broadly defined and especially with the ways in which people become aware, access, orient themselves to, and act on issues of common concern; in other words what connects people to activism. The paper engages with childhood in particular because childhood remains resolutely excluded from practices of public life and because engaging with activism from the marginalized position of children’s everyday lives provides an opportunity to think about the everyday, lived experiences of activism. Occupying a space ‘before method’, the paper engages with autobiographical narratives of growing up in the Communist left in the USA and the historical events of occupying Greek schools in the 1990s. These recounted experiences offer an opportunity to disrupt powerful categories currently in circulation for thinking about activism and childhood. Based on the analysis it is argued that future research on the intersections of activism, childhood and everyday life would benefit from exploring the spatial and temporal dimension of activism, to make visible the unfolding biographical projects of activists and movements alike, while also engaging with the emotional configurations of activists’ lives and what matters to activists, children and adults alike.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    Nolas, S.-M., Varvantakis, C., & Aruldoss, V. (2016). (Im)possible conversations? activism, childhood and everyday life. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 4(1), 252–265. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v4i1.536
    en_US
  • ISSN
    2195-3325
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1406
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1777
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v4i1.536
  • Keyword(s)
    activism
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    childhood
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    prefiguration
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    everyday life
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    communism
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    United States of America
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    schools
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    occupations
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    Greece
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    cross-cultural perspectives
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    (Im)possible conversations? activism, childhood and everyday life
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    1
  • Journal title
    Journal of Social and Political Psychology
  • Page numbers
    252–265
  • Volume
    4
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record