Sustainable peace involves more than simply including youth in official peacebuilding mechanisms or recognizing their local peacebuilding work; it requires a transformation in thinking about the youth as actors in the world of security and peace. Using case studies from around the globe, the contributors to this volume analyse why states are afraid of their young people, why 'youth participation' in formal peace processes matters but is insufficient, and ways that young people are working outside of official systems to create and nurture peace on their own terms. The volume offers guidance for ways to bridge the disconnect that exists between institutional assumptions and expectations for youth as peacebuilders and the actual sustainable peace leadership of youth. Throughout, it emphasises a critical approach to peacebuilding with, for and by youth.

Reviews

'With the participation of the youth in contemporary peacebuilding processes, we face two main challenges. First, young people are often seen as a problem or potential agent of conflict, and second, even if their potential as an agent of peace is recognized, the basis of their participation is often tokenism at best. This is why Youth and sustainable peacebuilding is a must-read for researchers and practitioners, as this volume tackles both challenges head-on with excellent contributions on a myriad of critical issues, processes, and cases.'
Alpaslan Özerdem, Dean of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, and Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, George Mason University

'How do young people participate in both formal security spaces and in informal processes? What do we learn from perspectives that pay attention to people's views? To what extent are the complexities of the Youth Peace and Security (YPS) agenda are captured by official institutions and community practices? In this exciting and inspiring volume, these questions are addressed in creative and thoughtful ways.
The aspirations and lived experiences of young people are at the heart of this book. Rich in detail, the compelling and fresh interpretations unmask both tensions and possibilities of the YPS agenda. Contributors reveal underlying injustices, oppression, and co-optation of young lives. We learn how inherently securitised, environmental, and economic stresses marginalise young people.
The empirical evidence persuasively tells us that collective sharing of knowledge and a radical vision of youth participation and inclusion are prerequisites in the transformative practices of peace.
A must-read for academics and practitioners of youth, sustainable peace, and justice.'
Bina D'Costa, Professor of International Relations, Australian National University

'In focusing on youth-centered activism and approaches to peace, this volume challenges - and potentially contributes to changing - what 'experts' and policymakers believe they know about peacebuilding.
This agenda-setting volume offers a rich contribution to the Youth and Peace and Security (YPS) agenda - at the intersection of policy, practice, and scholarship, as well as in the ways that local YPS practice can sophisticate and define global policy.'
Graeme Simpson, Principal Representative (NY) & Senior Peacebuilding Adviser, Interpeace. Former Lead Author of the Independent UN Progress Study on YPS: The Missing Peace

Introduction: Youth and Sustainable Peace
Helen Berents, Catherine E. Bolten, Siobhan McEvoy-Levy

Part I: States and their "Youth Problems"
Helen Berents, Catherine E. Bolten, Siobhan McEvoy-Levy
Chapter 1 - Challenging The Construction and Conceptualization of Cambodia's Young Generation in the Post-War Order
Netra Eng and Caroline Hughes
Chapter 2 - The Challenge and Promise of Transforming Youth: Insurgency in Nigeria's Oil Region
Obasesam Okoi
Chapter 3 - Why all the 'Emphasis on Youth?' A Cold-War Perspective on Contemporary U.S. Youth Bulge Talk
Anna Fett

Part II: Beyond Inclusion: Institutions and the Challenges of (Transformative) Participation
Helen Berents, Catherine E. Bolten, Siobhan McEvoy-Levy
Chapter 4 - How do children and youth participate in Transitional Justice: Mechanisms in Post-Accord Colombia?
Patricia Nabuco Martuscelli
Chapter 5 - The Challenge of Being Taken Seriously: Symbolic Violence and Youth Participation in Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone
Catherine E. Bolten
Chapter 6 - Meaningful Youth Participation? The Pitfalls of Merging Counter-Terrorism with the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda
Ali Altiok
Chapter 7 - Institutionalising a Radical Vision: The Idea of Youth and the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda
Helen Berents
Chapter 8 - Youth and Transitional Justice: Interrogating Formal and Informal Sites of Engagement
Caitlin Mollica

Part III: Sustainable Peace: Youth Leading the Way
Helen Berents, Catherine E. Bolten, Siobhan McEvoy-LevyChapter 9 - "We Lived the River Through Our Bodies": Environmental Care, Intergenerational Relations, and Sustainable Peacebuilding in Colombia
Angela J. Lederach
Chapter 10 - Reimagining 'peacebuilding': out-of-school BIPOC youth as researchers and advocates for sustainable peace
Jaimarsin Lewis, Siobhán McEvoy-Levy, Karayjus Perry, Trinity Perry and Julio Trujillo
Chapter 11 - Young women and peacebuilding in Asia and the Pacific
Katrina Lee-Koo and Lesley Pruitt
Chapter 12 - How the international community can walk alongside local peacebuilders: lessons from South Sudan
Emmily Koiti, Bush Buse Laki and Chara Nyaura
Chapter 13 - Global Unites: a new generation of peacebuilders rising with resilience and courage from the ashes of conflict
Prashan de Visser on behalf of Global Unites
Chapter 14 - Building a new lodge: Native youth and peacebuilding
Justin de Leon and Jordan Bighorn
Conclusions: Futures for, with, and by young people
Helen Berents, Catherine E. Bolten and Siobhán McEvoy-Levy

Editors

Helen Berents is Senior Lecturer and Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow with the School of Government and International Relations at Griffith University. Catherine Bolten is Professor of Anthropology and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Siobhan McEvoy-Levy is Professor of Political Science and Peace Studies and Director of the Desmond Tutu Peace Lab at Butler University.