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- Volume 11, Issue 3, 2016
Citizenship Teaching & Learning - Volume 11, Issue 3, 2016
Volume 11, Issue 3, 2016
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Citizenship and the economic crisis in Europe: An introduction
Authors: Bryony Hoskins, David Kerr and Liyuan LiuAbstractThis article analyses the changing nature of Active and Participatory Citizenship in Europe during the period of the financial crisis from 2008–2015 and introduces the special issue which has a focus on this topic. This article and the accompanying special issue shed light on the current critical situation in Europe, how we got here and provides critical insights on where we may be headed. The findings of the research show that during the period of the economic crisis the European Union (EU) was seen to take a leadership role championing austerity and neoliberal economic policies whilst many of its citizens suffered and began to lose trust in the EU, its institutions and leaders. National politicians often successfully shifted blame to the EU for domestic policies that made citizens and public services suffer in the name of austerity for recovery. At the same time, Active and Participatory Citizenship policies received major cuts to funding, as part of the austerity drive, and were no longer considered a policy priority at both the European and the national level as concerns about mounting unemployment and a skills crisis took over. In addition, there was a general policy shift from cosmopolitan European Citizenship to a more nationalistic and, reactive citizenship driven by responses to pressing social issues such as extremism, radicalisation, migration and violence. The article concludes that in order to maintain the European project the Active and Participatory agenda needs to urgently be restored to give people a sense of belonging and ownership of Europe.
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Values in times of austerity: A cross-national and cross-generational analysis
More LessAbstractIt is common knowledge that in times of recession people lose confidence in the government and in other state institutions. Political scientists have pointed out that a loss of faith in a particular government or parliament does not necessarily amount to an erosion of civic culture as the cultural foundation of liberal democracy is broader. However, the recent recession has been unusually severe and long-lasting and some countries have only just started to climb out of it. It is an open question whether civic culture is so resilient that it can even weather exceptionally serious economic crises such as the recent one. As often happens in times of crisis, young people have been most affected by the recent crisis, and one may thus expect this age group to show the steepest drops in civic values. The current article examined the impact of the recession on the civic values of different generations across a selection of European and western states. Analyses of both short and long-term trends based on European Social Survey (ESS) and World Values Survey (WVS) data showed that social trust, tolerance, active civic participation and post-materialism values, as civic culture indicators, are not susceptible to economic downturns, confirming the idea that civic values need to be distinguished from political trust. Correlational analysis provided additional support for this finding as it showed no links between changes in civic culture indicators and changes in economic performance. However, civic dispositions were found to be related to overall levels of economic prosperity and performance, indicating that such dispositions are not wholly immune to material conditions. This led us to surmise that civic culture is more susceptible to enduring processes affecting people’s life chances and well-being than to fleeting phenomena such as economic crises.
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Shrinking participation, growing youth unemployment and emigration: The case of Latvia and Hungary
Authors: Liesma Ose and Juris OsisAbstractThe economic crisis in Latvia and Hungary has led to young people to suffer from experiences of unemployment leading to social exclusion and/or emigration. This article compares the situation of young people in Latvia and Hungary identifying similarities and differences between these two countries’ experiences of the economic crisis and the education and youth policy reforms undertaken to support young people’s economic and political engagement during this period. The results show that the economic downturn and labour market deterioration in both countries is associated with the decrease of conventional political youth participation and increase in unemployment and emigration. Explicit measures aimed at diminishing youth emigration were not in place when needed most. However, youth-targeted active employment strategies were implemented with some positive effects in both nations. The promotion of youth participation including citizenship education and youth policy were implemented in both countries but their benefits towards facilitating civic engagement are yet to be seen.
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The effects of the economic crisis on active citizenship among young people in Spain and what we can do about it through civic education in universities
Authors: Concepción Naval and Elena ArbuésAbstractThe recent economic crisis has had a particularly serious consequence for young people, who have suffered from a delayed transition into adulthood as a result of unemployment and job insecurity and delayed independent living. This has been particularly the case for Spain and there is a concern that these experiences of unemployment may lead to social exclusion and isolation. This article argues that learning social and civic skills may well allow young people to maintain their social connectedness and self-worth by enabling them to make connections with their local community. One institution that could offer these learning opportunities, we argue, is the university. In this article we identify the possibilities and limitations for Spanish universities to promote social and civic learning. We conclude by evaluating the support that higher education can offer young people in the context of the crisis and continued austerity.
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Active citizenship and austerity: A Dutch–French comparison of policy, civil society and education
Authors: Antoine Bevort and Wiel VeugelersAbstractWhile several analyses sustain that the declining support for democracy is related to ‘the very fact that external actors were imposing policies from outside’, this article comparing policy, civil society and education in France and the Netherlands emphasizes the role of national tradition in the ways this outside pressure is translated in the national context, and the ways the political effects are expressed. Before trying to assess the effects of the economic crisis on the policies and practices of active citizenship and showing differences between France and the Netherlands, the article sketches more precisely the main features and recent events of Dutch and French political life to understand the context and meaning of active citizenship and citizenship education in both countries.
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A nation at risk? – Danish citizenship policy under austerity
Authors: Hans Christian Dorf and Niels Rosendal JensenAbstractThanks to the features of the Scandinavian welfare system, Denmark may offer a special case in Europe as far as the relationship between austerity and citizenship is concerned. Yet, two interlinked tendencies in the new millennium may explain an experience of austerity in Denmark. One is related to changes in economic governance and welfare distribution while the other is related to perceived threats to Danish culture and security. In the article, we first briefly outline the development of the Danish welfare model and its recent transformations in relation to changes in legislation on youth unemployment, youth education and the cash benefits system. Second, we turn to the issue of Danish citizenship policy focusing on citizenship education, anti-radicalization measures and ‘terror packages’. We argue that while these political initiatives can only in part be explained as austerity measures, they are linked to general effects of transnational processes and accompanying changes in Danish welfare policies and Danish national identity images – with important (educative) citizenship implications.
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Reviews
Authors: Susan A. Adler, Rohit K Dasgupta and Vachararutai (Jan) BoontinandAbstractEDUCATING ‘GOOD’ CITIZENS IN A GLOBALISING WORLD FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, MURRAY PRINT AND CHUANBAU TAN (EDS) (2015) Rotterdam, Boston and Taipei: Sense Publishers, 192 pp., ISBN: 9789463003445, p/bk, $54.00 (USD)
SEXUALITY, CITIZENSHIP AND BELONGING: TRANSNATIONAL AND INTERSECTIONAL PERSPECTIVES, FRANCESCA STELLA, YVETTE TAYLOR, TRACEY REYNOLDS AND ANTOINE ROGERS (EDS) (2016) London: Routledge, 253 pp., ISBN: 9781138805040, h/bk, £90
THE STATE OF GLOBAL EDUCATION: LEARNING WITH THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE, BRAD M. MAGUTH AND JEREMY HILBURN (EDS) (2015) New York and London: Routledge & Frances, 202 pp., ISBN: 9780415721677, h/bk, £95.00 (GBP)
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