Young People Talk about Citizenship

Empirical Perspectives on Theoretical and Political Debates

Bibliographic Data

ID4524810
AuthorsRuth Lister (Loughborough University), Noel Smith, Noel W Smith, Sue Middleton (0000-0002-5952-0882), Lynne Cox, Lynne S Cox (0000-0002-5306-285X)
Year2003
Volume7
Issue2
Pages235-253
Publication date2003-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCitizenship Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1362-1025 • E-ISSN: 1469-3593
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1362102032000065991
OpenAlexW2002881892
LanguageEN
Citations received96
References cited29

The citizenship literature includes remarkably few empirical studies. In this\narticle we report on how young people in a British city perceive citizenship and\ntheir own transitions as citizens. Of five models which emerged, the most\ndominant was ‘universal status’, followed by ‘respectable economic independence’,\n‘constructive social participation’ and, less frequently, ‘social-contractual’\nand ‘right to a voice’. The extent to which the young people identified\nthemselves as citizens reflected these models and their own life experiences. They\ndrew clear distinctions between what it means to be a ‘good’ and a ‘first class’\ncitizen and had greater difficulty articulating their rights than their responsibilities.\nOverall, their responses drew on fluid understandings of citizenship but\npointed more towards communitarian than liberal or civic-republican citizenship\nparadigms. They also underlined how everyday understandings of citizenship\ncan have both inclusionary and exclusionary implications

Citizenship · Constructive · Empirical research · Epistemology · Everyday life · Good citizenship · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Children's Rights and Participation · Gender Studies · Law · Religious Education and Schools · Social Media and Politics