What constitutes youth organizing? Exploring the role of conservative contexts in understanding practice

•Context is an under-theorized but key concept in youth engagement.•Article examines diversity and complexity of contexts of youth organizing.•Authors examine how youth organizers negotiate socially conservative contexts.•Case studies of youth organizing in Mississippi and Fresno, CA are presented.•Cases demonstrate power dynamics, youth agency, and adults as allies.

Context shapes how we come to understand activities, possibilities and constraints in youth organizing. Although there is increasing interest in youth organizing, little attention has been paid to the practice of youth organizing within socially conservative contexts, or to how such contexts shape the roles, perspectives, and actions of young people and of adults. Drawing on case examples of youth organizing work in Mississippi and Fresno, California, this article explores the importance of context as a core element in understanding youth activism and considers how a broader framework for understanding youth organizing through diverse contextual lenses can benefit the field.