In England ongoing concerns about young people’s declining political participation generated research and policy that has focused on the development of school-based education programmes to address young people’s perceived disengagement and overlooked he contribution of non-school programmes, such as youth work. This thesis examines the ways in which youth work with young people (aged 10-24) equips young people for political citizenship. This research adopted a qualitative mixed methods approach, utilising focus groups and participant observation of four youth projects located in a small city in northern England between 2020 and 2022, to examine youth work’s capacity to help equip young people for political citizenship. Findings from the research address the under theorisation political citizenship in youth work by developing an analytical model that reflects extended repertoires of young people’s political participation and lived citizenship, but also highlights that formal electoral political processes and structures remain significant in framing young people’s understandings. This thesis demonstrates the contribution that youth work in England makes to equipping young people for political citizenship. It also identifies the barriers that youth workers’ face in addressing some dimensions of political citizenship and suggests that issues with youth workers’ political knowledge and values as well as professional and organisational culture inhibit their ability to engage with some dimensions of political citizenship. Framing youth work’s engagement with political citizenship as political socialisation, emphasises young people’s competency and agency and opens opportunities to include all political dimensions, and so better equip young people to engage in political citizenship.
| Date of Award | 13 May 2025 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Georgina Blakeley (Main Supervisor) |
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