Human rights activism: factors which influence and motivate young adults in Australia

Abstract

Human rights activists aim to create social and political change. This article analyses the factors which influence and motivate human rights activists in Australia to want to be a part of this movement. Human rights education is an important part of activism. The pedagogy about, through and for human rights education was used in this study to assess the processes that the activists engaged in prior to and through the experiences of their activism. The findings demonstrated that these human rights activists were motivated to be justice-oriented citizens by altruism, often through the influence of their families rather than their schooling. Some participants also experienced political socialisation through their families when they were children, which enabled them to have knowledge and agency as human rights activists. The study also found that belonging to a non-governmental organisation was an important part of maintaining the motivation of human rights activists.