Ben Bowman at 'Youthquake'

Ben speaking to the panel at Youthquake

MCYS’s own Ben Bowman spoke to the panel on ‘Youthquake’ at the Festival of Politics at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh earlier this month. The panel was run by the Scottish Parliament in partnership with British Academy and The Conversation. “Youthquake,” was the Oxford Dictionary word of 2017. From youth campaigners on Brexit, Scottish Independence and Jeremy Corbyn’s rise – young people appear more politically engaged than ever. Ben spoke about his research with young people, the politics of being young in times of economic crisis and austerity, and the power of youth-led and youth-centred political work including activism.

The panel covered a range of topics from the Vote at 16, to young people and Brexit, to how young people are likely (or not) to participate in politics in the UK following the Youthquake of 2017. Other panellists were Laura Hood, Politics Editor at The Conversation; Josh Kennedy MSYP and Zanib Ahmad MSYP, Scottish Youth Parliament; and Prof Paul Kennedy, University of Essex.

Ben said:

'It is always exciting to speak about young people’s politics and especially to an audience with so many young people, and adults who work with young people. I really think the Youthquake year of 2017 has inspired a lot of people, young and old, to work harder to be in touch with young people in their communities. We need to keep listening to young people’s voices and organizing so that their voices can be powerful too, because in democracy, it’s not enough to have a voice. Young people need things to get done. Ideally, we should be putting young people in charge too, and I was excited to share something of our plans at MCYS for a youth consulting body for the Centre’.