Dr Benjamin Bowman
Senior Lecturer
My profile
Biography
I am a political sociologist, and I specialise in youth studies. I work with young people to learn about their lives, their everyday politics and how young people take action to change the world around them.
Right now, I’m especially working with young people to explore how young people take action on climate change. I specialize in collaborative research with young people, and I love to cooperate, co-research, and co-author with others.
My research
I am internationally recognised for interdisciplinary, participatory research with young people. I use youth participatory action research (YPAR) to work with young people, and to nurture young people’s visions and action for change.
My specific research interests include:
- Young people and climate change
- Young people’s activism
- Co-research and co-authorship with young people
- Young people’s political participation
- Civic education and climate education
- Votes at 16
My publications include co-authored policy work with young climate activists, research with young people on collaborative research teams, and I am honoured to have supported many young people as a mentor and supporter.
I internationally active as an advocate for young people, and I hope my work upholds and celebrates young people. I am a Former Advisor to the European Youth Forum (EU) on Votes at 16 and consultant to the British Council on young people’s climate activism. I have also served the Canada Research Coordinating Committee as expert reviewer to the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) 2023 International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.
PhD supervision
I supervise PhD candidates and I have a strong record for supervision, postgraduate support, career development and for mentorship for Early Career Researchers.
I am especially interested in supervising PhD and postgraduate students in the following fields:
- Young people’s politics
- Young people and climate change
- Creative research methods
- Civic and citizenship education
- Votes at 16
If you would like to discuss supervision in these topics or in another topic of your choice, please email me.
Research outputs
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Chapters in books
Germaine, C., Bowman, B., Kishinani, P., Balchin, C. (2024) 'The Climate Imaginary: Reading Fiction to Make Sense of the Climate Crisis.' In Atkinson, J.W., Ray, S.J. (ed.) The Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators: How to Teach in a Burning World. University of California Press, Berkeley,
Bowman, B. (2023) 'Young People’s Voice and Power in Democracy: Supporting Through Action.' In Wyn, J., Cahill, H., Cuervo, H. (ed.) Handbook of Children and Youth Studies. Springer,
Bowman, B., Kishinani, P., Pickard, S., Smith, M. (2023) '“Radical kindness”: the young climate activists transforming democracy.' In Deželan, T., Bacalso, C., Lodeserto, A. (ed.) Youth Political Participation. Brussels: Council of Europe and European Commission, pp. 15-33.
Walker, C., Bowman, B. (2022) 'Young People and Climate Activism.' In Montgomery, H. (ed.) Oxford Bibliographies in Childhood Studies. Oxford University Press,
Bowman, B., Magioglou, T., Haste, H. (2022) 'Can I Trust My Future? Youth civic engagement, civic identity and dystopias.' In Weinberg, A. (ed.) Psychology of Democracy Of the People, By the People, For the People. Cambridge University Press, pp. 332-353.
Pickard, S., Bowman, B., Arya, D. (2022) 'Youth and Environmental Activism.' In Grasso, M., Giugni, M. (ed.) Routledge Handbook of Environmental Movements. Routledge,
Bowman, B., Bell, K., Alexis-Martin, B. (2021) 'Youth, Climate and Environmentalism.' In Bell, K. (ed.) Diversity and Inclusion in Environmentalism. London: Routledge,
Bowman, B. (2019) 'Researching the Politics of Everyday Life With Young People Using Creative Methods.' SAGE Research Methods Cases in Political Science and International Relations. SAGE,
Bowman, B. (2014) 'Votes at 16 should be part of the systemic reform needed to counter youth abstention from democratic institutions.' In Kippin, S., Berry, R. (ed.) Should the UK lower the voting age to 16?. Democratic Audit,
Bowman, B. (2013) 'On adapting and subverting methods for young antipolitics.' Research Journeys: Narratives of the Doctoral Experience. Cambridge Scholars Press,
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Reports
Bowman, B., Germaine, C. (2021) Not (just) a protest: the Youth Strike for Climate as cultural exchange and collaborative text. British Council.
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Internet publications
Bowman, B. (2020) Fridays for Future: how the young climate movement has grown since Greta Thunberg’s lone protest. https://theconversation.com/fridays-for-future-how-the-young-climate-movement-has-grown-since-greta-thunbergs-lone-protest-144781.
Bowman, B. (2019) Young people can change the general election – here’s how to get your friends to vote. https://theconversation.com/young-people-can-change-the-general-election-heres-how-to-get-your-friends-to-vote-128491.
Bowman, B. (2019) Nearly 1.5 million young people have registered to vote for election 2019 – and more could join them. https://theconversation.com/nearly-1-5-million-young-people-have-registered-to-vote-for-election-2019-and-more-could-join-them-127462.
Bowman, B., Byrne, E., Germaine Buckley, C. (2019) Climate change: children are carving out a place in politics – now adults must listen and act. https://theconversation.com/climate-change-children-are-carving-out-a-place-in-politics-now-adults-must-listen-and-act-123704.
Bowman, B. (2019) Why don’t teenagers have a greater say in their future?. https://theconversation.com/why-dont-teenagers-have-a-greater-say-in-their-future-111327.
Bowman, B. (2017) Young voters are on the march – here’s how to keep them coming back for more. https://theconversation.com/young-voters-are-on-the-march-heres-how-to-keep-them-coming-back-for-more-84748.
Bowman, B. (2017) Surge in young voters is the first sign of a return to proud working-class politics. https://theconversation.com/surge-in-young-voters-is-the-first-sign-of-a-return-to-proud-working-class-politics-79218.
Bowman, B. (2016) The Vote at 16 in 2016: Three things campaigners must do now. https://www.democraticaudit.com/2016/01/07/the-vote-at-16-in-2016-three-things-campaigners-must-do-now/.
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Journal articles
Hayes, T., Walker, C., Parsons, K., Arya, D., Bowman, B., Germaine, C., Lock, R., Langford, S., Peacock, S., Thew, H. (2023) 'In it together! Cultivating space for intergenerational dialogue, empathy and hope in a climate of uncertainty.' Children's Geographies,
Neas, S., Ward, A., Bowman, B. (2022) 'Young people's climate activism: A review of the literature.' Frontiers in Political Science, 4(940876) pp. 1-13.
Burton, S., Bowman, B. (2022) 'Editorial: The academic precariat: understanding life and labour in the neoliberal academy.' British Journal of Sociology of Education, 43(4) pp. 497-512.
Bowman, B., Germaine, C. (2022) 'Sustaining the old world, or imagining a new one? The transformative literacies of the climate strikes.' Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 38(1) pp. 70-84.
Bowman, B., Pickard, S. (2021) 'Peace, Protest and Precarity: Making Conceptual Sense of Young People’s Non-violent Dissent in a Period of Intersecting Crises.' Journal of Applied Youth Studies, 4pp. 493-510.
Bowman, B. (2021) 'Missing an Opportunity? The Limited Civic Imagination of Votes at 16.' Parliamentary Affairs, 74(3) pp. 581-596.
Pickard, S., Bowman, B., Arya, D. (2020) '“We Are Radical In Our Kindness”: The Political Socialisation, Motivations, Demands and Protest Actions of Young Environmental Activists in Britain.' Youth and Globalization, 2(2) pp. 251-280.
Bowman, B. (2020) 'Remix this method: a creative approach to young people’s everyday lives as political arenas.' Journal of Youth Studies, 25(1) pp. 17-33.
Bowman, B. (2020) '‘They don’t quite understand the importance of what we’re doing today’: the young people’s climate strikes as subaltern activism.' Sustainable Earth, 3(1)
Abbas, A., Abel, G., Abreu, A., Adam, A., Adamek, M., Adiletta, G., Adusei-asante, K.A., Romeo, M.D.M., Alderson, A., Alfaro, E., Aliverti, A., Almeida, F., Álvarez-gonzález, L.I., Amelina, A., Anand, C., Anderson, G., Andreasson, J., Ang, I., Aragon, J., Arcidiacono, C., Arcuri, S., Assante, D., Atukeren, E., Avery, H., Ayeb-karlsson, S., Azadi, H., Bachman, R., Bader, M., Badulescu, A., Bahmanteymouri, E., Baines, S., Baker, T., Baker‐beall, C., Bañón, L., Bar‐am, N., Barbier‐greenland, K., Barnett, R., Barragán‐escandón, A., Barreto, A.M., Barrett, E., Bartkowski, J., Bartram, R., Bartzas, G., Bates, D., Baviera‐puig, A., Bayley, A., Beazley, H., Beer, C., Behr, H., Beier, G., Belford, N., Bencivenga, R., Benli, A.E., Benton‐short, L., Berei, J.M., Berbel‐pineda, E., Bernstein, , Berntzen, E.R., Bertella, L., Birney, G., Bittle, M., Black, S., Rivero, L.B., Blattner, J.J., Blok, C., Blount, A., Boas, Y., Bockarie, I., Bockerman, A., Bodén, P., Bönisch‐brednich, L., Bontje, B., Bontje, M., Borsellino, V., Bostan, I., Bowl, M., Bowman, B., Bracci, E., Bracken, C.M., Bradley, H., Brereton, P., Brewer, J., Bridge, D., Brooks, S., Brown, A., Brzoska, M., Brzozowski, W., Buckley, G., Buente, W., Bullaro, G.R., Burke, M.D., Burlacu, S., Busu, M., Butler, S., Byrne, J., Cabral, L., Cai, Y., Cajias, M., Calin, A.C., Callegari, C. (2020) 'Acknowledgement to reviewers of social sciences in 2019.' Social Sciences, 9(1)
Bowman, B. (2019) 'Imagining future worlds alongside young climate activists: a new framework for research.' Fennia - International Journal of Geography, 197(2)
Bowman, B. (2018) 'Young people re-generating politics in times of crisis.' INFORMATION COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY, 21(12) pp. 1799-1800.
Bowman, B. (2018) 'By any media necessary: the new youth activism.' INFORMATION COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY, 21(12) pp. 1806-1807.
Bowman, B. (2017) 'Social media and everyday politics.' INFORMATION COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY, 20(12) pp. 1782-1782.
Bowman, B. (2014) '2011: Young rioters and imagined revolution in the British Utopia of Calm.' Postcolonial Studies, 17(1) pp. 90-103.
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Theses and dissertations
Bowman, B. (2016) “They don’t know what’s going on”: Exploring young people’s political subjectivities during transitions to adulthood in the UK.