Shaping subjects in everyday encounters: Intergenerational recognition in intersubjective socialisation

Abstract

Abstract:This article considers the role of intergenerational recognition in processes of subject formation and political development. It leans on a broad conception of politics, following a phenomenologically oriented approach and drawing from theories of contextual recognition. Intergenerational recognition is introduced as a key dynamism and practice in intersubjective socialisation, unfolding in everyday environments among 'significant others'. In these encounters, people take shape and are shaped as political subjects.Empirically, the paper is based on research with 129 eleven-to fifteen-year-old girls and boys, including an analysis of their place-based biographies. By introducing different forms of intergenerational (mis)recognition, it shows how the formation of political subjects takes place in the most mundane environments where children and young people lead their lives. In conclusion, the paper suggests that 'political becoming' deserves increasing attention in critical research and intergenerational recognition ought to be better identified as a social practice. Whether intentional or intuitive, the ways in which adults regard children and young people has both harmful and beneficial effects on the formation of their political subjectivities.

Invited to labour or participate: intra- and inter-generational distinctions and the role of capital in children’s invited participation

“…Studies of children's participation involving comprehensive and detailed empirical analysis of different contexts and actors are developing, as is understanding of intersectionality and the exercise of power between and among generations (e.g., Kallio, 2016;Phillips & Tossa, 2016). This article contributes to the emerging literature and has relevance across European contexts within and outside of educational settings.…”

Becoming Refugee in Cairo: The Political in Performativity

“…We share Isin's (2012) conception of political becoming as purposive "because bodies sense the subject position they are taking up but are neither able to calculate nor predict its outcomes" (Isin 2012, 128). In discussing refugeeness as a performance, we do not subscribe to an individualistic or a 'substantialist' conception of subjecthood and agency because "'subjects' do not already exist prior to acts; the performance of acts through actions bring them into being" (Isin 2012, 129;see also Isin 2009;Zanotti 2013;Kallio 2016). On the contrary, we see subjectivity as a processual notion that highlights the relational and contextual constitution of the subject (Young 1990;Vacchelli 2011;Häkli 2013;Häkli and Kallio 2014;Baines 2015).…”

Not In The Same World: Topological Youths, Topographical Policies

“…One of our intentions in this research is empirically to develop means for studying topological realities. To explore spatiality as socially defined, we have designed methods of “topological mapping,” which lead to the following fieldwork with the youth (see also Kallio , , 2016, ):…”

“…Topography here refers to Euclidean spatial relations defined by proximity, distance, location, and boundedness—and topology designates spatial relationality, shifting ties of belonging, and discontinuity, as defined by social relations (Murdoch ; Häkli ; Martin and Secor ; Joronen ). In the first sense, the world appears as a continuous space of locations and regions; in the second sense, it is rather a disorganized and volatile constellation, established, ruptured, and molded through the connections that people generate with each other and with things, thoughts, artifacts, animals, plants, institutions, places, and so on (Häkli and Kallio ; Kallio and others ; Kallio , ; Kallio and Häkli ).…”

“…Altogether 129 girls and boys, aged eleven to sixteen, participated in the study and shared their lived worlds with the research team. The analysis revealed social networks and spatial belonging that exceed and cross territorially organized neighborhoods, districts, cities, countries, and supranational structures, as well as move between different temporalities, hence disclosing topological realities where young people lead their lives and identify relevant issues (Kallio and others ; Kallio , ; Korkiamäki and Kallio ).…”