Throughout Europe concern is being expressed with regard to young people’s patterns of civic engagement (Kerr 2002). Increasingly it seems young people are being portrayed as apathetic, self centred and dis-engaged from their neighbourhoods (Jowell and Park 1998).

This paper presents an empirical study exploring the question ‘what are the barriers and opportunities that young people face with regard to civic action when growing up in socio-economically disadvantaged communities?’

This paper draws from the ‘Building voice, civic action and learning' research project presently being conducted within the UK and that has been funded by the Society for Educational Studies (SES). It began in April 2009, and will continue until March 2011. This research project represents a collaboration between the University of Leicester, University of Cambridge and CSV (Community Service Volunteers). It aims to prioritise the voices of young people, and to lead to knowledge that builds capacity for civic action and learning in new ways.

This research project builds progressively through 4 stages and this paper will focus specifically upon the second of these, a series of empirical investigations that seek to understand young people’s own perspectives on their patterns of civic engagement and participation. This empirical research is built upon an extensive literature review that formed the first stage of the project. This review discovered that the general picture of young people’s civic action and learning, and particularly those from socio-economically disadvantaged communities, is complex, and at times contradictory.  An explanation for this complexity is the contrasting epistemological assumptions within different research traditions on the one hand, and diverse political and theoretical perspectives on civic engagement and citizenship on the other. Theories of Citizenship provide a lens through which young people’s civic engagement and learning can be viewed, meaning that a consideration of these issues cannot be separated from a wider discussion of citizenship as a concept.  In particular, the literature review identified four theoretical perspectives – civic republicanism, liberal rights-based, communitarian and identity-based notions of citizenship. This paper will outline this underpinning theoretical framework by discussing these different traditions with reference to the key themes of civic engagement and learning amongst young people.

The literature review highlights the need to recognise the complex and transient context within which young people in the 21^st century are living as active social agents. This paper argues that in order to better understand the current experiences, opportunities and barriers to young people’s civic engagement, what is required is a broadened concept of what actually represents civic engagement. Educators concerned with providing young people with engaging and apt learning opportunities for civic engagement need to be aware of the diverse lived realities of their students. So this paper asserts that a more young person-centred approach is required in order to understand more deeply, and respond to more effectively, young people’s experiences of civic engagement and the points of resistance that in particular those from socio-economically disadvantaged areas face. 

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