Abstract
This chapter examines the crisis narratives on young people’s political engagement. It evaluates the explanations offered for the decline in forms of electoral and party-political participation, paying particular attention to the question of why young people in particular seem less likely to engage in electoral or party politics. It then addresses the growing literature on shifting modes and repertoires of action among citizens in general to focus on forms of political participation among young people in particular. It critically engages with the emerging literature on new forms of political practice among young citizens, before addressing the question: if young people’s modes and repertoires of political participation are changing, does it matter if they do not vote or join political parties? And what are the democratic implications of “new grammars of action”?
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bang, H. P. (2004). Culture governance: Governing self-reflexive modernity. Public Administration, 82(1), 157–190.
Bang, H. (2005). Among everyday makers and expert citizens. In J. Newman (Ed.), Remaking governance: Peoples, politics and the public sphere. Bristol: Policy Press.
Bang, H. P. (2009). ‘Yes we can’: Identity politics and project politics for a late-modern world. Urban Research & Practice, 2(2), 117–137.
Beck, U. (1997). The reinvention of politics: Rethinking modernity in the global social order. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bennett, W. L. (2008). Changing citizenship in the digital age. In W. L. Bennett (Ed.), Civic life online: Learning how digital media can engage youth. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Bennie, L., & Russell A. (2012). Radical or compliant? Young party members in Britain. Paper prepared for Elections, Public Opinion and Parties (EPOP) conference, University of Oxford, 7–9th Sept 2012.
Cammaerts, B., Bruter, M., Banaji, S., Harrison, S., & Anstead, N. (2014). The myth of youth apathy: Young Europeans’ critical attitudes toward democratic life. American Behavioural Scientist, 58(5), 645–664.
Coffé, H., & Chapman, H. (2014). Changing Facebook profile pictures as part of a campaign: Who does it and why?. The Australian Political Studies Association annual conference, University of Sydney. Paper available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2440558
Cohen, E. F. (2005). Neither seen nor heard: Children’s citizenship in contemporary democracies. Citizenship Studies, 9(2), 221–240.
Dalton, R. J. (2008). Citizenship norms and the expansion of political participation. Political Studies, 56, 76–98.
García-Albacete, G. M. (2014). Young people’s political participation in Western Europe: Continuity or generational change? Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Giddens, A. (1994). Beyond left and right. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Harris, A., & Roose, J. (2013). DIY citizenship amongst young Muslims: Experiences of the ‘ordinary’. Journal of Youth Studies. doi:10.1080/13676261.2013.844782.
Hay, C. (2007). Why we hate politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Häyhtiö, T., & Rinne, J. (2007). Hard rock hallelujah! Empowering reflexive political action on the internet. Journal for Cultural Research, 11(4), 337–358.
Henn, M., & Foard, N. (2012). Young people, political participation and trust in Britain. Parliamentary Affairs, 65(1), 47–67.
Horvath, A., & Paolini, G. (2014). Political participation and EU citizenship: Perceptions and behaviours of young people: Evidence from eurobarometer surveys. Brussels: Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, European Commission.
IDEA. (1999). Youth voter participation: Involving today’s young in tomorrow’s democracy. Stockholm: Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
Inglehart, R. (1997). Modernization and postmodernization: Cultural, economic and political change. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Kallio, P.K. and Häkli, J. (2011) “Young people’s voiceless politics in the struggle over urban space”, GeoJournal, 76(1), 63–75.
Loader, B. D., Vromen, A., & Xenos, M. A. (2014). The networked young citizen: Social media, political participation and civic engagement. Information, Communication and Society, 17(2), 143–150.
Manning, N. (2013). “I mainly look at things on an issue by issue basis”. Reflexivity and phronêsis: Young adults conceptualisation and practice of politics. Journal of Youth Studies, 16(1), 17–33.
Marsh, D., O’Toole, T., & Jones, S. (2007). Young people and politics in the UK: Apathy or alienation? Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Martin, A. (2012). Young people and politics: Political engagement in the Anglo-American democracies. London: Routledge.
Matthews, H., & Limb, M. (2003). Another white elephant? Youth councils as democratic structures. Space and Polity, 7(2), 173–192.
McDonald, K. (2006). Global movements: Action and culture. Oxford: Blackwell.
Melo, D. F., & Stockemer, D. (2014). Age and political participation in Germany, France and the UK: A comparative analysis. Comparative European Politics, 12(1), 33–53.
Micheletti, M. (2011). Introduction: Responsibility-taking in politics. In M. Micheletti & A. S. McFarland (Eds.), Creative participation: Responsibility-taking in the political world. Boulder: Paradigm.
Micheletti, M., Follesdal, A., & Stolle, D. (2004). Politics, products, markets: Exploring political consumerism past and present. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
Milner, H. (2010). The internet generation: Engaged citizens or political dropouts. Medford: Tufts University Press.
Mycock, A., & Tonge, J. (2012). The party politics of youth citizenship and democratic engagement. Parliamentary Affairs, 65, 138–161.
Norris, P. (2011). Democratic deficit: Critical citizens revisited. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
O’Loughlin, B., & Gillespie, M. (2012). Dissenting citizenship? Young people and political participation in the media-security nexus. Parliamentary Affairs, 65(1), 115–137.
O’Toole, T., & Gale, R. (2013). Political engagement amongst ethnic minority young people: Making a difference. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Painter, A. (2014). The myth of ‘anti-politics’. Policy Network. 29 Oct 2014. www.policy-network.net/pno_detail.aspx?ID=4752&title=The-myth-of-anti-politics
Park, A. (1998). Young people’s social attitudes 1998. Keele: ESRC.
Park, A., Curtice, J., Thomson, K., Jarvis, L., & Bromley, C. (2002). British social attitudes: The 19th report. London: Sage.
Pattie, C., Seyd, P., & Whiteley, P. (2004). Citizenship, democracy and participation in contemporary Britain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Philo, C., & Smith, F. M. (2003). Political geographies of children and young people. Space and Polity, 7(2), 99–115.
Pirie, M., & Worcester, R. M. (2000). The big turn-off: Attitudes of young people to government, citizenship and community. London: Adam Smith Institute.
Rainsford, E. (2014). Young people and political parties. In A. Mycock & J. Tonge (Eds.), Beyond the youth citizenship commission: Young people and politics. London: Political Studies Association.
Segerberg, A. (2011). Swarming: Imagining creative participation. In M. Micheletti & A. S. McFarland (Eds.), Creative participation: Responsibility-taking in the political world. Boulder: Paradigm.
Skelton, T. (2013). Young people, children, politics and space: A decade of youthful political geography scholarship 2003–13. Space and Polity, 17(1), 123–136.
Sloam, J. (2014). New voice, less equal: The civic and political engagement of young people in the United States and Europe. Comparative Political Studies, 47(5), 663–688.
Smith, N., Lister, R., Middleton, S., & Cox, L. (2005). Young people as real citizens: Towards an inclusionary understanding of citizenship. Journal of Youth Studies, 8(4), 425–443.
Stoker, G. (2006). Why politics matters: Making democracy work. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Stoker, G. (2014). Political citizenship and the innocence of youth. In A. Mycock & J. Tonge (Eds.), Beyond the youth citizenship commission: Young people and politics. London: Political Studies Association.
Tisdall, E. K. M., & Davis, J. (2004). Making a difference? Bringing children’s and young people’s views into policy-making. Children and Society, 18, 131–142.
Vromen, A., Zenos, M. A., & Loader, B. (2014). Young people, social media and connective action: From organisational maintenance to everyday political talk. Journal of Youth Studies. doi:10.1080/13676261.2014.933198.
Wood, B. E. (2014a). Researching the everyday: Young people’s experiences and expressions of citizenship. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 27(2), 214–232.
Wood, M. (2014b). Why ‘anti-politics’ is not a myth. Policy Network. 29 Oct 2014. http://www.policy-network.net/pno_detail.aspx?ID=4761&title=Why-anti-politics-is-not-a-myth
Zukin, C., Keeter, S., Andolina, M., Jenkins, K., & Carpini, M. X. D. (2006). A new engagement? Political participation, civic life and the changing American citizen. New York: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this entry
Cite this entry
O’Toole, T. (2016). Beyond Crisis Narratives: Changing Modes and Repertoires of Political Participation Among Young People. In: Kallio, K., Mills, S., Skelton, T. (eds) Politics, Citizenship and Rights. Geographies of Children and Young People, vol 7. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-57-6_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-57-6_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-4585-56-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-4585-57-6
eBook Packages: Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences