This course investigates the role of youth activism in the fight against poverty and other social injustices. The aim of the course is to understand how activist youths' passion and ideas can be harnessed in social movements targeted at economic, racial, and gender inequities. The course is divided into two parts. The first section lays the foundations of an understanding of intersectional theory (race, class, gender, and other identities) and poverty in the United States. The second section transitions into an analysis of a variety of social movements, with a particular focus on organized youth movements and the reasons some movements succeed and others fail. We look at causes such as Black Lives Matter, the #MeToo movement, and the fight for the rights of the undocumented, as well as the role of social media in activist organizing.
