Growing Up Through Activism: Adult Identities and the Maturing of Standpoints

Abstract

This chapter explores the biographical significance of periods of activism in the lives of adults who have been involved in a variety of forms of political engagement across their lifetime. We will examine the complex and contradictory ways in which activism in the life of our participants relates to key aspects of adulthood. The narratives we report on complicate any straightforward notions of both adulthood and social action. Active involvement in social movements or community campaigns, it seems, is deeply enmeshed with questions about how to be a conscientious citizen and lead a worthwhile life, yet this can lead to choices that sit uneasily with conventional views of responsible adulthood. The experiences of adulthood described in these narratives are characterised by complex reflection and review of some key tensions between activist involvement and accepted aspects of adulthood such as work and parenthood.