Adaptive Civic Infrastructure in Refugee-Led Organizations: A Theoretical Framework for Youth Participation

Abstract This article advances a theoretical reconceptualization of youth councils by introducing the concept of adaptive civic infrastructure to explain how youth participation unfolds within community-based organizational contexts, specifically Refugee-Led Organizations. Existing frameworks of youth participation are often applied as static typologies of program design models that insufficiently account for the temporal, relational, and organizational dynamics shaping participation in practice. In response, this article develops a dynamic framework that conceptualizes youth councils as participatory infrastructures capable of supporting multiple modes of engagement over time. Participatory orientations are reinterpreted as fluid modes that emerge and shift in relation to leadership development, organizational context, and changing community conditions. The framework examines how organizational relationships, resources and power dynamics within Refugee-Led Organizations shape the possibilities for adaptive participation. A practice illustration drawn from a youth council within a Congolese Refugee-Led Organization in the United States informs and illustrates the conceptual argument. The adaptive civic infrastructure model highlights the importance of organizational context in shaping youth participation and positions Refugee-Led Organizations as key sites of youth civic engagement. Implications are discussed for supporting refugee youth leadership and participation within child and adolescent social work practice.