ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to develop a theory of young women’s leadership, with a particular focus upon young women working towards social justice in Asia and the Pacific. Drawing upon extensive fieldwork, including hundreds of interviews with young women from across this region, the contributors have demonstrated the unique ways that young women lead, the challenges they face, the opportunities that exist to support their leadership, and the benefits this has for realising young women’s rights and building stronger communities. The chapter suggests that efforts to theorise young women’s leadership must be cognisant of and attentive to at least three issues. First, the boundaries, which are often established by traditional approaches to leadership actively exclude young women and render their leadership inconsequential or irrelevant. Second, perceptions and representations about leadership can both limit and expand young women’s opportunities. Finally, the collection looked at how young women experience structures and relationships of power in terms of their leadership.
