ABSTRACT
This introduction explores the at times contradictory position young people seem to inhabit in international development discourses, on the one hand being viewed as a ‘problem’ that needs to be solved, on the other as an ‘asset’ that can drive global change. Contextualising our discussion within the literature on ‘Positive Youth Development’, we examine the ways in which arts-based development practices can support young people to challenge this contradiction. We introduce the AHRC/GCRF research programme Changing the Story, which provides most of the case studies we discuss in this book and set out the key terms that will structure our argument throughout. This includes an initial discussion of ‘youth voice’, ‘epistemic justice’ and what we define as ‘ecologies of action’.
