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'It's Like Getting Someone Who's Been Hit by a Car to Run a Speed Awareness Course': How Young Activists in the UK Make Sense of Personal, Collective and Institutional Agency

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Title: 'It's Like Getting Someone Who's Been Hit by a Car to Run a Speed Awareness Course': How Young Activists in the UK Make Sense of Personal, Collective and Institutional Agency
Language: English
Authors: Silvia Behrens (ORCID 0000-0003-2719-0169)
Source: Youth & Society. 2026 58(1):34-60.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 27
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Youth, Activism, Personal Autonomy, Self Efficacy, Politics, Civics, Political Attitudes, Citizen Participation, Foreign Countries
Geographic Terms: United Kingdom (Scotland)
DOI: 10.1177/0044118X251346801
ISSN: 0044-118X
1552-8499
Abstract: Current research into youth activism places emphasis on agency, but few empirical studies have looked into how the perception of agency impacts young people's engagement (and non-engagement) in political activities. Drawing on online focus group discussions, this study investigates how 16 to 24 year-old young activists perceive agency, differentiating between three categories of agency. These categories include the capacity to act that young people ascribed to themselves (personal agency), to others (collective agency) and to political decisionmakers (proxy or institutional agency). Young people generally held positive beliefs about collective agency. In contrast, they expressed varying perceptions about their own capacity to affect change. Although young people placed significant responsibility on political institutions, they felt these institutions fell short in exercising the entrusted agency. The analysis highlights how structural constraints and societal inequalities shape young people's perceptions of agency which, thus, may have an impact on participatory behaviors.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1494230
Database: ERIC
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Silvia+Behrens%22">Silvia Behrens</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2719-0169">0000-0003-2719-0169</externalLink>)
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  Data: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+Kingdom+%28Scotland%29%22">United Kingdom (Scotland)</searchLink>
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  Data: Current research into youth activism places emphasis on agency, but few empirical studies have looked into how the perception of agency impacts young people's engagement (and non-engagement) in political activities. Drawing on online focus group discussions, this study investigates how 16 to 24 year-old young activists perceive agency, differentiating between three categories of agency. These categories include the capacity to act that young people ascribed to themselves (personal agency), to others (collective agency) and to political decisionmakers (proxy or institutional agency). Young people generally held positive beliefs about collective agency. In contrast, they expressed varying perceptions about their own capacity to affect change. Although young people placed significant responsibility on political institutions, they felt these institutions fell short in exercising the entrusted agency. The analysis highlights how structural constraints and societal inequalities shape young people's perceptions of agency which, thus, may have an impact on participatory behaviors.
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        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Activism
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      – SubjectFull: Personal Autonomy
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      – SubjectFull: Self Efficacy
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      – SubjectFull: Politics
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      – SubjectFull: Civics
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      – SubjectFull: United Kingdom (Scotland)
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