Key research themes
1. How does spatiality reshape our understanding of youth experiences beyond traditional temporal transition models?
This research area challenges the traditional developmental models that conceptualize youth primarily through temporal frameworks such as life-course transitions. It foregrounds the importance of spatiality, emphasizing how youth experiences are embedded in, produced through, and shaped by physical and social spaces. Recognizing the role of space alongside time offers a richer, multidimensional insight into youth lives, particularly in the context of globalization, cultural flows, and place-based identities.
2. How do global risks and crises redefine youth conditions, agency, and intergenerational justice in contemporary societies?
This research stream addresses how multifaceted global crises—including climate change, pandemics, economic instability, and geopolitical conflicts—impact youth’s everyday lives, opportunities, and capacities for agency. It interrogates the shifting socio-political contexts of youth under conditions of uncertainty, vulnerability, and polycrisis, emphasizing structural inequalities and the often marginalizing nature of adult-centric governance responses. It also explores youth as actors of resilience and resistance, raising crucial questions about intergenerational justice and equity.
3. What factors shape youth political participation and empowerment in developing countries, and how can youth roles in governance and social change be enhanced effectively?
This thematic cluster investigates the structural, socio-political, and institutional factors influencing youth engagement in governance, peacebuilding, and socio-economic development, particularly within developing country contexts like Nigeria and the Philippines. It examines both barriers—such as marginalization, inadequate mobilization, limited resources—and enablers such as training programs, policy frameworks, and grassroots initiatives. The focus is on actionable strategies for empowering youth, increasing their political agency, and integrating their voices meaningfully into governance processes.
4. How do transnational and digital practices influence migrant and refugee youth identities, social belonging, and political agency in multicultural contexts?
This theme encompasses research on migrant and refugee youth negotiating complex identities and social memberships through transnational practices and digital engagement. The works emphasize the fluidity of cultural identity, political attachments across borders, and social inclusion amid host-pathway challenges. They critically examine how these youth deploy everyday transnational connections and digital technologies to assert agency, redefine belonging, and resist exclusion in environments often shaped by securitization and hostile reception.