Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Political Socialization of Youth pp 199–220Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Normalization of Youth Political Agency

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 542 Accesses

Abstract

Youth in general and youth in specific who are living in politically unstable, war-like areas are acutely aware of the local and global situations regarding the conflict. It is clear in reading the narratives of Palestinian youth that they are not passive recipients of the top-down model of political socialization. Given that youth agency is in fact active of their own perspective, it is imperative to discuss the fact that even though they are growing up and living in an area that is being occupied, they are still able to experience daily life with its complexity and (im)possibilities just like any other youth. Such “normality” is constructed according to their local/global discourse and youth agency interaction and intersectionality. Palestinian children’s and youth’s experiences have some similar interactions as other individuals not living in a conflicted area. A 12-year-old female Palestinian youth from a refugee camp wrote, “We took our midterm certifications; I felt so happy because I got high marks, then I went home and when my mother saw my marks she felt happy and wished for me continued success.” Another participant, a 12-year-old male from a city, wrote about worries at school, “I was so stressed because I am awaiting the results of the exam to see if I passed, I tried to calm down but it was in vain.” While the political situation of the Occupied Palestine Territories and the living reality of youth is one of political conflict, it is clear that this reality does not negate the everyday living experience and the right to live in stability within unstable circumstances.

Today was a local meeting in Ramallah with Al Naizak Institute as part of the little researcher project. We had a lot of fun, and we played with each other, then we had many lectures, some were interesting and some were boring, but the special moment was when we sat together and introduced ourselves, some I knew and some I didn’t, but we are now friends and we play with each other. On our way back, Israeli soldiers stopped us at the checkpoint between Ramallah and Hebron, I took my brother Yousef with me to Ramallah and he didn’t have his birth certificate, then the soldiers asked all the people in the bus to go out of the bus to check our IDs, we [were] all [children] and we didn’t have IDs yet, they say you will stay here until we recognize your identities, then they let us go to the bus. All they do [is] upset us, we are little children and we don’t have IDs but I felt sorry for the adults who had to be undressed and were standing on the wall.

—14-year-old female journal participant from a city

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Amna, E., Ekström, M., Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2009). Political socialization and human agency. The development of civic engagement from adolescence to adult-hood. Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift, 111, 27–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bocco, S. (2010). UNRWA and the Palestinian refugees: A history within history. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 28(2–3), 229–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandstater, S., Wade, P., & Woodward, K. (2011). Introduction: Rights, cultures, subjects and citizens. Economy and Society, 40(2), 167–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burman, E. (2007). Between orientalism and normalization: Cross-cultural lessons from Japan fro a critical history of psychology. American Psychological Association, 10(2), 179–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Camfield, L. (2012). Resilience and well-being among urban Ethiopian children: What role do social resources and competencies play? Social Indicators Research, 107(3), 393–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Childers, J. (2012). The evolving citizen: American youth and the changing norms of democratic engagement. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crossely, M. (2008). The advancement of educational research in small states. Comparative Education, 44(2), 247–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Earls, F. (2011). Introduction: Children: From rights to citizenship. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 633, 6–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giroux, H. (2006). The terror of neoliberalism: Rethinking the significance of cultural politics. College Literature, 32(1), 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greene, S. (2006). Child psychology: Taking account of children at last? The Irish Journal of Psychology, 27(1–2), 8–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habashi, J. (2008). Palestinian children crafting national identity. Childhood, 15, 12–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habashi, J. (2013). Palestinian children: Authors of collective memory. Children and Society, 27(6), 421–433.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habashi, J. (2014). [Im]possibilities of reinvention of Palestinian early childhood education. In M. Mimi Bloch, B. Swadener, & G. Cannella (Eds.), Reconceptualizing early childhood care and education: Critical questions, new imaginaries and social activism (pp. 303–311). New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habashi, J., Driskill, S., Long, J., & DeFalco, P. (2010). Constitutional analysis: A proclamation of children’s right to protection, provision, and participation. International Journal of Children’s Rights, 10, 267–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habashi, J., & Worley, J. (2014). Children’s projected political preference: Transcending local politics. Children’s Geographies, 12(2), 205–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilal, J. (2010). The polarization of the Palestinian political field. Journal of Palestinian Studies, 39(3), 24–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilal, J. (2015). Rethinking Palestine: Setter-colonialism, neoliberalism and individualism in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Contemporary Arab Affairs, 8(3), 351–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Høigilt, J. (2007). Islamism, Pluralism and the Palestine question: The case of Hizbullah. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 34(2), 123–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Høigilt, J. (2015). Nonviolent mobilization between a rock and a hard place: Popular resistance and double repression in the West Bank. Journal of Peace Research, 52(5), 636–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeffrey, C. (2012). Geographies of children and youth II: Global youth agency. Progress in Geography, 36(2), 245–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenks, C. (2009). Constructing childhood sociologically. In M. J. Kehily (Ed.), An introduction to childhood studies (2nd ed., pp. 93–111). Berkshire: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. G. (2006). Explaining global poverty: A critical realist approach. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, C. (2004). Growing up global: Economic restructuring and children’s everydaylives. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khalili, L. (2007). ‘Standing with my brother’: Hizbullah, Palestinians, and the limits of solidarity. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 49(2), 276–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kidd, S., & Shahar, G. (2008). Resilience in homeless youth: The key role of self-esteem. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 78(2), 163–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maira, S. (2008). “We ain’t missing”: Palestinian hip hop—A transnational youth movement. CR: The New Centennial Review, 8(2), 161–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merz, S. (2012). “Missionaries of the new era”: Neoliberalism and NGOs in Palestine. Race and Class, 54(1), 50–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubenstein, K., & Adler, D. (2000). International citizenship: The future of nationality in the globalized work. Journal of Global Legal Studies, 7(2), 519–548.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saltman, K. (2009). The rise of venture philanthropy and the ongoing neoliberal assault on public education: The case of Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. Workplace, 16, 53–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samuels, D. (2004). From socialism to social democracy: Party organization and the transformation of the workers’ party in Brazil. Comparative Political Studies, 37, 999–1024.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thieme, T. (2010). Youth, waste and work in Mathare: Whose business and whose politics? Environment and Urbanization, 22(2), 333–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe, H., & Ahmad, N. (2013). Youth, action sports and the political agency in the Middle East: Lessons from a grassroots parkour group in Gaza. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 50(6), 678–704.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torres, C. A. (2009). Education and neoliberal globalization. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Usher, G. (2006). The democratic resistance: Hamas, Fatah, and the Palestinian elections. Journal of Palestine Studies, 35(3), 20–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Deth, J., Abendschön, S., & Vollmar, M. (2011). Children and politics: An empirical reassessment of early political socialization. Political Psychology, 32(1), 147–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, K., & Byrner, J. M. (2003). Sustainability education. Its status and where higher education should intervene. Planning for Higher Education, 31(3), 23–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yun, S., & Chang, W. Y. (2011). New media and political socialization of teenagers: The case of the 2008 candlelight protests in Korea. Asian Perspective, 35(1), 135–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zweiri, M. (2006). The Hamas victory: Shifting sands or major earthquake? Third World Quarterly, 27(4), 675–687.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oklahoma, Norman, USA

    Janette Habashi

Authors
  1. Janette Habashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Habashi, J. (2017). The Normalization of Youth Political Agency. In: Political Socialization of Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47523-7_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47523-7_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-47522-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-47523-7

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation