Sociopolitical Practices Supporting Youth Critical Action: Reflections on Play, Performance and Protagonismo

Grounded in a sociopolitical development framework, this paper describes youth critical action via three practices: play, performance and protagonismo . Play is an activity associated with normative developmental behavior that is often characterized as a form of entertainment, recreation, and exploration. Performance, on the other hand, is acting with intention to convey or express a meaningful message. Protagonismo , while similar to play and performance in that it involves agency, is a public expression by a political actor engaged in collective action. Through an autoethnographic approach, featuring my reflections from three case studies— Muñecas Negras , Children Making a Change (CMAC), and Sophie Cruz—I examine how these practices support youth critical action. I conclude with insights for how these practices can be leveraged to facilitate, support and sustain critical action in relation to youth sociopolitical development.