Not ‘one of us’: understanding how non-engaged youth feel about politics and political leadership

Bastedo, Heather

doi:10.1080/13676261.2014.992309

Cited by 26 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…However, young people express relatively little intention to directly support political parties – whether in terms of trying to convince someone else how to vote, donating money to them, or campaigning for a party or an election candidate. We would expect this, given the findings in previous research that while broadly supportive of democratic processes in principle, young people are dissatisfied with the outcomes from such processes in practice, and are particularly antipathetic of parties and the political class in general (Bastedo ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Postmaterialism and young people's political participation in a time of austerity

Henn

Oldfield

Hart

2017

British Journal of Sociology

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Recent trends suggest that young people in Britain are refraining from engaging in formal political processes. At the same time, they are increasingly expressing support for, and turning toward, a new and diverse range of non-institutionalized forms of political action in order to actualize their interests. Using Inglehart's ideas on postmaterialism, we consider whether this apparent rejection of mainstream politics in favour of less conventional - and sometimes radical - forms of political action is changing over time in Britain, reflecting fluctuating economic conditions witnessed over the last two decades. We do this by comparing results from surveys of British 18 year olds conducted in 2002 during an era of relative global prosperity, and then in 2011 at the height of the current global crisis. The findings suggest that British young postmaterialists are considerably more likely than materialists to participate in and support both institutionalized and non-institutionalized forms of political action.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Postmaterialism and young people's political participation in a time of austerity

Henn

Oldfield

Hart

2017

British Journal of Sociology

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“…Links can be made here to findings from other research highlighting that young people from communities who are less engaged with politics may find it hard to relate to political debates because they may feel that the issues that they are concerned about are not addressed; that politicians talk at them rather than to them; and that politicians do not understand their day‐to‐day lives (Bastedo ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 76%

A Capability Approach to Unemployed Young People's Voice and Agency in the Development and Implementation of Employment Activation Policies

Egdell

Graham

2016

Soc Policy Adm

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In the UK, current approaches to employment activation are primarily concerned with rapid labour market entry, with jobseekers compelled to engage in activities or be sanctioned. The Capability Approach (CA) has been proposed as an alternative framework to measure successful employment activation. It is concerned with what people can do rather than what they actually do, together with their substantive freedom of choice. In applying the CA, attention is drawn to the need for jobseekers to have a voice in the design and implementation of employment activation programmes. Drawing on in‐depth qualitative research, this article uses the CA to explore the voice and agency of unemployed young people (aged 16–24) in the development and implementation of employment activation policies. It analyses how far, and in what ways, young people's ideas, experiences and voices are included in policy development and implementation. Reflections and conclusions are made about how the policy discourse which has stressed the importance of centring services on the needs of users is reflected in employment activation policy.

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“…For example, they are sceptical about their ability to influence either politicians or the direction of politics and believe that they are ignored in political discussions [9,37]. They are also disappointed with policies offered by political parties, suggesting that there is little to separate the policy direction of political parties [10] and that such policies are not relevant to young people [27].…”

Section: Young People's Withdrawal From Formal Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While conventional wisdom suggests this reluctance to participate may be due to young people's indifference towards politics, a number of scholars, associated with the anti-apathy school [7], have suggested that the relationship between contemporary youth and formal politics is far more complex. Their studies indicate that far from being apathetic, young people are interested in politics and support democracy [8], but don't trust the motives of politicians [9] and are unhappy with political parties for being remote, hierarchical and centralised [10]. Closely aligned to the anti-apathy thesis is the notion that young people are rejecting formal politics and are channelling their political activities into alternative forms of political engagement [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence suggests that a majority of British youth, though offering support to the ideals of democracy, felt that they are unable to influence governments and that elections do not really change anything. Furthermore, young people are often reluctant to engage with major political parties because they appear remote, centralised and hierarchical [9,37]. If politics is constrained and directed by 'backstage' actors at the expense of young people, then it is likely that the political process will become even less appealing.…”

Section: Depoliticisation and New Forms Of Political Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

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Neoliberalism and the Unfolding Patterns of Young People’s Political Engagement and Political Participation in Contemporary Britain

Hart

Henn

2017

Societies

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Recent trends suggest that young people in Britain are increasingly rejecting electoral politics. However, evidence suggests that British youth are not apolitical, but are becoming ever more sceptical of the ability of electoral politics to make a meaningful contribution to their lives. Why young people are adopting new political behaviour and values, however, is still a point of contention. Some authors have suggested that neoliberalism has influenced these new patterns of political engagement. This article will advance this critique of neoliberalism, giving attention to three different facets of neoliberalism and demonstrate how they combine to reduce young people's expectations of political participation and their perceptions of the legitimacy of political actors. We combine ideational and material critiques to demonstrate how young people's political engagement has been restricted by neoliberalism. Neoliberalism has influenced youth political participation through its critiques of collective democracy, by the subsequent transformations in political practice that it has contributed to, and through the economic marginalisation that has resulted from its shaping of governments' monetary policy. This approach will be conceptually predicated on a definition of neoliberalism which acknowledges both its focus on reducing interventions in the economy, and also its productive capacity to modify society to construct market relations and galvanise competition amongst agents. From this definition, we develop the argument that neoliberal critiques of democracy, the subsequent changes in political practices which respond to these criticisms and the transformation in socioeconomic conditions caused by neoliberalism have coalesced to negatively influence young people's electoral participation.

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Not ‘one of us’: understanding how non-engaged youth feel about politics and political leadership

Cited by 26 publications

References 12 publications

Postmaterialism and young people's political participation in a time of austerity

Postmaterialism and young people's political participation in a time of austerity

A Capability Approach to Unemployed Young People's Voice and Agency in the Development and Implementation of Employment Activation Policies

Neoliberalism and the Unfolding Patterns of Young People’s Political Engagement and Political Participation in Contemporary Britain

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