Explores how teenage girls across the world—Mexico City, Vancouver, Buenos Aires, San Francisco—reject the patriarchy and redefine their girlhood to claim their political authority and become activists
From anti-war walkouts to anarchist youth newspapers, rallies against educational privatization, and workshops on fair trade, teenage girls are active participants and leaders in a variety of social movements. Rebel Girls: Youth Activism and Social Change Across the Americas illuminates the experiences and perspectives of these uniquely positioned agents of social change. Jessica K. Taft introduces readers to a diverse and vibrant transnational community of teenage girl activists in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mexico City, Caracas, Buenos Aires, and Vancouver. Expansive in scope and full of rich details, Taft brings to life the voices of these inspiring activists who are engaged in innovative and effective organizing for global and local social justice, highlighting their important contributions to contemporary social movements and social theory.
Rebel Girls explores how teenage girls construct activist identities, rejecting and redefining girlhood and claiming political authority for youth in the process. Taft examines the girl activists’ social movement strategies and collective political practices, detailing their shared commitments to process-based political education, participatory democracy, and hopeful enthusiasm. Ultimately, Rebel Girls has substantial implications for social movements and youth organizations, arguing that adult social movements could learn a great deal from girl activists and making clear the importance of increased collaboration between young people and adults.
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About Jessica K. Taft
Reviews for Rebel Girls
Z Magazine
"Taft adds a valuable contribution to youth, girlhood, and activist studies."
R.C. Raby
Choice
"This is not only a powerful sociological account of the making of a counter-culture girl identitythat of the socially active, community-minded girl; it is also a treasure trove of data."
Maya Bernstein
Lilith Magazine
"Rebel Girls serves the important purpose of bringing to light and describing a marginalized aspect of activist culture."
Emily Abrahams
Shameless
"From interviews with seventy-six teenage girls in five locations and from observations of their political strategies, Taft builds an in-depth picture of girl activism in different socio-cultural and political environments, comparing the more politicized and radical activism in Latin America to that practiced in North America."
Hilary Crew
VOYA Library Magazine
"In Rebel Girls, Jessica K. Taft introduces readers to a cadre of girl activists who remain invisible to scholars of both girlhood and social movements. . . Taft unveils the intricate processes through which girl activists contruct collective identities and political strategies within contexts that take neither girl nor youth political activism seriously."
Heather Hensman Kettrey
Mobilization
"Taft demonstrates...capacity for nuance."
Courtney E. Martin
Women's Review of Books
"In this riveting book, Taft takes us on a journey from San Francisco to Mexico City, Caracas, Vancouver, and Buenos Aires to learn about girls struggles for social justice in a variety of social movements."
Verta Taylor,co-author of Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret