Abstract
Analysing young people’s willingness, their ability to participate in political action, and the discourses that they employ to do this, are clearly issues of the ‘public good’. This chapter examines how many young Europeans appear to be constructing identities that include a globalised and/or European dimension, that coalesces around issues of political, social and environmental rights. This response to the changing political culture in Europe, the increased cultural diversity of the continent, and the growth of social media have led to a new generation that is differently mobilised for political activity, and which has a particular characterisation of what might constitute ‘the public good’. The work described in this chapter developed from the work on young English identities described by Maylor in the preceding chapter, and focuses on the methodological issues of using less structured deliberative discussion group techniques, in a study of 29 countries in continental Europe. The young Europeans’ discussions of the values of diversity, and how for many Europe was defined in terms of a culture of human rights values, have particular implications for educational practice in terms of political and civic awareness and the competencies needed for active participation, and for understanding how young people construct ‘the public good’.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The countries in phase 1 (2010–2013) were Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus [Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus], Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey (all states joining the EU after 2004, and the candidate countries in 2010). Phase 2 (2014–2016) involved Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland (states that joined the EU prior to 2000, and the EFTA countries).
- 2.
Discussions were often in English, or largely English with my collaborators translating where necessary. About 15% were largely in another language.
References
Agafiţei, M., & Ivan, G. (2016). First and second-generation immigrants: Statistics on main characteristics. Luxembourg: European Commission, Eurostat.
Ajegbo, K., Kiwan, D., & Sharma, S. (2007). Diversity and citizenship curriculum review. London: Department for Education and Skills.
Alexander, R. (2008). Culture, dialogue and learning: Notes on an emerging pedagogy. In N. Mercer & S. Hodgkinson (Eds.), Exploring talk in schools: Inspired by the work of Douglas Barnes (pp. 91–114). London: Sage.
Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism (Revised ed.). London: Verso.
Appadurai, A. (1996). Number in the colonial imagination. In C. Breckenridge & P. van der Veer (Eds.), Orientalism and the postcolonial predicament: Perspectives on South Asia (pp. 314–339). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Arnett, J. (2008). The neglected 95%: Why American psychology needs to become less American. American Psychologist, 63(7), 602–614.
Balescu, O. (2009). Reflections on European identity: The case of East European countries. In D. Dolejšiová & M. A. G. López (Eds.), European citizenship: In the process of construction – Challenges for citizenship, citizenship education and democratic practice in Europe (pp. 44–54). Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Bauman, Z. (2000). Liquid modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bohnsack, R. (2000). Rekonstruktive sozialforschung: Einführung in die methodologie und praxis qualitativer forschung. Opladen: Leske and Budrich.
Bourdieu, P. (1973). L’opinion publique n’existe pas. Les Temps Modernes, 318(January), 1292–1309. [Translated by present author.] (Also in P. Bourdieu, Questions de sociologie, Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit, 1984, pp. 222–235).
Bourdieu, P., Chamboredon, J.-C., & Passeron, J.-C. (1991 [1983]). The craft of sociology: Epistemological preliminaries. Krais, B. (Ed.). Berlin: de Gruyter. [Translated by R. Nice, from Le métier de sociologue. Paris: Mouton].
Calenda, D., & Meijer, A. (2009). Young people, the internet and political participation: Findings of a web survey in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. Information, Communication and Society, 12(6), 879–898.
Collins, P. (2015). Intersectionality’s definitional dilemmas. Annual Review of Sociology, 41, 1–20.
Connor, W. (1978). A nation is a nation is a state, is an ethnic group, is a …. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 1(4), 379–388.
Connor, W. (1993). Ethnonationalism: The quest for understanding. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and rex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 140, 139–167.
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299.
Decimo, F., & Gribaldo, A. (2017). Nation, migration and kinship through identity categorization. In F. Decimo & A. Gribaldo (Eds.), Boundaries within: Nation, kinship and identity among migrants and minorities (pp. 3–21). Cham: Springer.
Devlin, M. (2006). Inequality and the stereotyping of young people. Dublin: The Equality Authority.
Eurostat. (2015a). People in the EU: Statistics on demographic changes. In Luxembourg. Eurostat: European Commission.
Eurostat. (2015b). People in the EU: Statistics on origin of residents. In Luxembourg. Eurostat: European Commission.
Flynn, K. (2019). Fox News apologizes to Greta Thunberg for ‘mentally ill’ comment by network guest. CNN Business, 24 September. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/24/media/fox-news-greta-thunberg/index.html
Forbrig, J. (2005). Introduction: Democratic politics, legitimacy and youth participation. In J. Forbrig (Ed.), Revisiting youth political participation: Challenges for research and democratic processes in Europe (pp. 7–18). Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
Foucault, M. (1977 [1975]). Discipline and punish: The birth of the modern prison. New York: Vintage. [Translated by A. Sheridan from Michel Foucault. (1975). Surveiller et punir: Naissance de la prison. Paris: Gallimard].
Henn, M., & Weinstein, M. (2006). Young people and political (in)activism: Why don’t young people vote? Policy & Politics, 34(3), 517–534.
Henrich, J., Heine, S., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2–3), 61–83.
Hodgen, J., & Webb, M. (2008). Questioning, dialogue and feedback. In S. Swaffield (Ed.), Unlocking assessment: Understanding for reflection and application (pp. 73–89). Oxford: Routledge.
Kertzer, D. (2017). The perils of reification: Identity categories and identity construction in migration research. In F. Decimo & A. Gribaldo (Eds.), Boundaries within nation, kinship and identity among migrants and minorities (pp. 23–34). Cham: Springer.
Kertzer, D., & Arel, D. (2002). Censuses and identity: The politics of ethnicity, race and language in national censuses. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Maylor, U. (2021). Curriculum Diversity and Social Justice Education: From New Labour to Conservative Government Control of Education in England. In Ross. A. (Ed) Educational research for social justice (pp. 223–247). Cham: Springer.
Maylor, U., Read, B., Mendick, H., Ross, A., & Rollock, N. (2007). Diversity and citizenship in the curriculum: Research review, RR819. London: Department for Education and Skills.
Nicoll, K., Fejes, A., Olson, M., Dahlstedt, M., & Biesta, G. (2013). Opening discourses of citizenship education: A theorization with Foucault. Journal of Education Policy, 28(6), 828–846.
Pickard, S. (2019). Politics, protest and young people: Political participation and dissent in 21st century Britain. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pirie, M., & Worcester, R. (2000). The big turn-off: Attitudes of young people to government, citizenship and community. London: Adam Smith Institute.
Pop, V. (2016). EU launches review of Polish government’s court changes. The Wall Street Journal, 13 January. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/itp
Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone. The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Rochat, P. (2010). What is really wrong with a priori claims of universality? Sampling, validity, process level, and the irresistible drive to reduce. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2–3), 107–108.
Ross, A. (1980). Developing political concepts in the junior school classroom. Social Science Teacher, 9(4), 136–141.
Ross, A. (1987). Political education in the primary school. In C. Harber (Ed.), Political education in Britain (pp. 9–240). Lewes: Falmer.
Ross, A. (2015). Understanding the constructions of identities by young new Europeans: Kaleidoscopic selves. London: Routledge.
Ross, A. (2019a). Finding political identities: Young people in a changing Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ross, A. (2019b). Young Europeans’ constructions of nation, state, country and Europe. National Identities. https://doi.org/10.1080/14608944.2019.1694499
Ross, A. (2020a). Young Europeans’ constructions of a Europe of human rights. London Review of Education, 18(1), 18–95.
Ross, A. (2020b). With whom do young Europeans’ discuss their political identities? Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, 19(3), 175–191.
Rozin, P. (2001). Social psychology and science: Some lessons from Solomon Asch. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5(1), 2–14.
Scheunpflug, A., Krogull, S., & Franz, J. (2016). Understanding learning in world society: Qualitative reconstructive research in global learning and learning for sustainability. International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, 7(3), 6–23.
Shachar, A. (2009). The birthright lottery: Citizenship and global inequality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Spivak, G. (1988). Can the subaltern speak? In C. Nelson & L. Grossberg (Eds.), Marxism and the interpretation of culture (pp. 271–313). Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Thunberg, G. (2019). No one is too small to make a difference. London: Penguin.
United Nations. (1989). Convention on the rights of the child. Treaty of November 20, 1989. United Nations General Assembly.
Vertovec, S. (2007). Super-diversity and its implications. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 30(6), 1024–1054.
Wagener, M. (2018). What do young people learn when sponsoring a child in the global South? Empirical findings on learning experiences of young sponsors in Germany. International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, 10(1), 90–102.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ross, A. (2021). The Construction of Political Identities: Young Europeans’ Deliberation on ‘the Public Good’. In: Ross, A. (eds) Educational Research for Social Justice . Education Science, Evidence, and the Public Good, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62572-6_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62572-6_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-62571-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-62572-6
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)