Theorising young people's perceptions of their citizenship identity

• In preparation for our book, due in 2019, we recognise the need for clarity and consistency in understanding terminology and perceptions. We adopt a position within the paradigm of social justice, an essential element of which is to give voice to the powerless and unheard. We therefore focus on young learners in two countries with similar but different environments in order to identify what comes from their common Western structures and how and/or why they diverge. Sweden and England have moved from being driven by a sense of communality in the welfare states to the growth of neoliberal societal individualism. To give voice to those without the resources to deal with the responsibilities imposed by a neoliberal agenda, we must consider the nature of that agenda and of those responsibilities. To clarify citizenship in its real meaning (as opposed to the merely formal) we employ the concept of human capabilities (Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum) rather than human rights. As they both emphasize, the concept of capability is broader than rights. To have capability to do something it is not enough to have a right to it, prerequisites are required to enjoy that right. For example, although everyone has the right to an education51and to a dignified adult life as citizens, many live a life of powerlessness, of political, social and economic exclusion. Sufficient human capabilities are needed to receive the education necessary for citizenship in its real meaning. The three-part categorisation of citizenship proposed by Marshall (1949) provides us with a platform from which to develop insight and comprehension into how identities and belonging limit or enhance people's social citizenship. The intersectional approach as proposed by Yuval Davis (2011) enables us to interrogate such factors which combine, rather than viewing in them in isolation, while Ragin (1987) offers a useful methodological approach for this study.KW: theory, human capabilities, intersectionality, formal/real

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

theory

human capabilities

intersectionality

formal/real

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)