Judith Bessant, AM, FASSA, is Distinguished Professor at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Her research is positioned in the intersections between youth studies, sociology, politics, history, technology-media studies, planetary and public health and youth participation.Rob Watts, FASSA, is Professor of Social Policy at RMIT University, Australia, where he teaches politics, social theory and policy studies. He has published widely on young people, social movements and climate change, human rights and state crime.

• 1. Introduction: being political and youth participation; 2. Deception and youth participation: a heuristic; 3. The democratic crisis: the theory and practice of youth participation; 4. Democracy is no place for ‘the people’: what political theorists say about citizen participation; 5. International development and youth participation: myth and reality; 6. ‘In your dreams’: australian case studies of youth participation and government policy; 7. What young people are doing: political participation by young people in a time of crises; 8. Children and young people’s strategic climate litigation; 9. Children and lowering the voting age: democracy and youth participation; 10 ‘Children of the anthropocene’: a post-anthropocentric ontology and young people’s politics; 11. Epilogue: protocols for youth participation beyond the governance model

“This inspiring book combines theoretical depth with practical concreteness to lay out a trenchant critique of the structures that block youth political participation in today’s world and to imagine what it would take to create a more youth-inclusive future.”John Wall, Rutgers University, Department of Childhood Studies“An informed and detailed critique of ineffective and deceptive ‘youth participation’ programmes – contrasted with a whole realm of unofficial youth engagement, activism and dissent. A carefully-reasoned and troubling book, important not only for youth policy but for all concerned with the future of democracy.”Raewyn Connell, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney, Australia“As head of an organisation led by younger Australians, I see policymakers’ advocacy for youth participation is a superficial commitment which fails to translate into genuine participation. This timely book documents how and why authentic youth political participation is critical for restoring trust in our fading institutions.”Thomas Walker, CEO of Think Forward, a policy organisation founded and run by younger Australians“The Politics of Deception recognises that something is ‘not right’ with the constant celebration of youth political participation. This straight talking and hard-hitting book reveals how high-minded claims of political projects having been led by and for youth turn out, on closer inspection, to be something else altogether.Stuart Tannock, Associate Professor UCL Institute of Education