How have young people in global cities coped with the economic, social and environmental pressures caused by successive waves of crisis? Why are young people often disengaged from political activity when they have strong political views?
New research in London shows that young people from less privileged backgrounds worry they will fall into cycles of insecurity that make it hard to even think of getting into any political activity. For example, a 17-year old might worry that a problem at school is going to lead to a problem with police, which makes it harder to get a job after school, and then impossible to afford rent. They see older youths falling into such cycles - it is real, for them. Young Londoners would like to care about climate or the wider economy, but their focus is immediate. For them to engage in politics two things are needed: both an opening up of policy processes to young people and for those young people to gain sufficient stability and confidence to feel that they can act effectively.
Ben O’Loughlin and James Sloam use narrative analysis to unpack the stories young people tell about how they will experience the transition to adulthood - to jobs, university, rents, and all the possibilities and risks ahead. This is a crucial time - research shows adults’ political opinions form when they are 15-24 years old and rarely change afterwards (despite anecdotes that people move to the right when they are older). Narrative analysis gets at the sequence of events young people will talk about when they describe how they are situated in the world. But it also allows them to talk about the emotions they attach to these events -- and to things still to happen. This gives a richer understanding of how those feelings feed into their decision-making and behaviour.
The research shows young Londoners’ stories are local, that mental health is a difficult issue for many, and that the narrative plot they offer often corresponds to a cycle of insecurity they worry lies ahead. If they do imagine acting in politics it is locally, on community projects or through social work. They speak little about the structural power that shapes the entire environment – the struggling economy, how democracy works, and how climate change is having consequences already.
Ben and James carried out this research with cooperation from the Greater London Authority (GLA), whose peer outreach workers ran focus groups and interviews with young people from across London in 2018. A survey was also conducted to put the focus group and interview findings in a wider context of what issues young people feel are political priorities.
Research with the GLA and other organisations is continuing in 2022. Through the Covid period Ben and James have kept exploring how the voices and actions of young people can be brought into policymaking and politics more widely - a challenge that is far from over.