Rethinking Agency, Affect, and Education: Towards New Childhood and Youth Studies in the Anthropocene

This introductory chapter to the section on “Climate” outlines three major lines of inquiry that have been pursued in the literature concerning children and youth in the Anthropocene—the geological epoch in which humankind has become a dominant force shaping the Earth’s systems, including its climate. The first major line of inquiry is concerned with children and young people’s agency and focuses on the diverse activities and approaches undertaken by children and young people in response to the worsening ecological crisis. A second major line of inquiry is concerned with children and young people’s affective responses to a climate-transformed world. A third major focus of inquiry relates to education, that is, how best to prepare children and young people, pedagogically speaking, for the realities of a radically changed world and for the ontological uncertainties of climate change. In this introductory chapter, we first synthesize the most recent literature in each of these domains and consider its theoretical and empirical implications for the related fields of childhood and youth studies. Taking the Anthropocene as a catalyst for rethinking agency, affect, and education, we then provide a brief overview of each of the contributions to this section, locating them within a broader discussion about recent theoretical developments and considerations in the related fields of childhood and youth studies.