Youth Political Participation: Bridging Activism and Electoral Politics

Fisher, Dana R.

doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-071811-145439

“…Important though these influences are known to be (Pancer, 2015), a focus on people's various relationships to time (age, life course, and generation), its experience and passage provides insights into the vicissitudes of life and political activism alike. These are insights that can account for both continuity and change in political orientations (Linden & Klandermans, 2007), the pathways in and out of activism or voluntary action (Fisher, 2012) and/or what Jones (2017) calls 'intermittent activism': the ways in which lives criss-cross 'resonant sites of activism' (Rosen, 2017) (see also Taft, 2017 andDa Silva, 2017).…”

Section: Notes On 'Political Activism'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Political activism across the life course

Nolas

¹

,

Varvantakis

²

,

Aruldoss

³

2017

Contemporary Social Science

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The study of political activism has neglected people's personal and social relationships to time. Age, life course and generation have become increasing important experiences for understanding political participation and political outcomes (e.g. Brexit), and current policies of austerity across the world are affecting people of all ages. At a time when social science is struggling to understand the rapid and unexpected changes to the current political landscape, the essay argues that the study of political activism can be enriched by engaging with the temporal dimensions of people's everyday social experiences because it enables the discovery of political activism in mundane activities as well as in banal spaces. The authors suggest that a values-based approach that focuses on people's relationships of concern would be a suitable way to surface contemporary political sites and experiences of activism across the life course and for different generations. ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…More recent studies, however, have noted a significant increase in youth political participation and voter turnout, particularly during the 2008 Obama campaign (Fisher, 2012; Sander and Putnam, 2009). These studies indicate that younger cohorts are not necessarily less interested in or more cynical about electoral politics than are older Americans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term consequences of youth volunteering: Voluntary versus involuntary service

Kim

¹

,

Morgül

²

2017

Social Science Research

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Despite the renewed interest in youth volunteering in recent years, there remain major gaps in our knowledge of its consequences. Drawing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we examine the long-term effects of youth volunteering on the civic and personal aspects of volunteers’ lives. Our results suggest that youth volunteering has a positive return on adult volunteering only when it is voluntary, and that net of contextual factors neither voluntary nor involuntary youth service has a significant effect on adult voting. Regarding personal outcomes, our findings indicate that the psychological benefits of youth volunteering accrue only to voluntary participants, whereas both voluntary and involuntary youth service are positively associated with educational attainment and earnings in young adulthood. Taken together, these results lend support to the case for youth volunteer programs, though the civic benefits of these programs appear to be less dramatic than generally suggested.

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“…Important though these influences are known to be (Pancer, 2015), a focus on people's various relationships to time (age, life course, and generation), its experience and passage provides insights into the vicissitudes of life and political activism alike. These are insights that can account for both continuity and change in political orientations (Linden & Klandermans, 2007), the pathways in and out of activism or voluntary action (Fisher, 2012) and/or what Jones (2017) calls 'intermittent activism': the ways in which lives criss-cross 'resonant sites of activism' (Rosen, 2017) (see also Taft, 2017 andDa Silva, 2017).…”

Section: Notes On 'Political Activism'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Political Activism across the Life Course

2019

1

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The study of political activism has neglected people's personal and social relationships to time. Age, life course and generation have become increasing important experiences for understanding political participation and political outcomes (e.g. Brexit), and current policies of austerity across the world are affecting people of all ages. At a time when social science is struggling to understand the rapid and unexpected changes to the current political landscape, the essay argues that the study of political activism can be enriched by engaging with the temporal dimensions of people's everyday social experiences because it enables the discovery of political activism in mundane activities as well as in banal spaces. The authors suggest that a values-based approach that focuses on people's relationships of concern would be a suitable way to surface contemporary political sites and experiences of activism across the life course and for different generations. ARTICLE HISTORY

show abstract

Youth Political Participation: Bridging Activism and Electoral Politics

Cited by 70 publications

References 78 publications

Political activism across the life course

Political activism across the life course

Long-term consequences of youth volunteering: Voluntary versus involuntary service

Political Activism across the Life Course

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