Including young people: exploring citizenship and participation in areas of urban regeneration

There has been widespread concern not just in the UK, but also across much of Europe about the disconnection and disengagement of young people from democratic processes, both formal and informal (O’Toole, 2003). Taking into account the series of transformations that have occurred over recent years in the UK and the resulting in changes to established patterns of employment, social reproduction, family life and life experiences, it is young people who find themselves ‘positioned at the leading edge of many aspects of contemporary social change, and experience acutely the risks and opportunities that new social conditions entail’ (Hall et al., 1999). The revival of citizenship, democratic renewal and the participation of communities (and individuals) have been at the core of New Labour’s approach to revitalising cities in the UK. In Scotland, there has been an increasing drive by government to include young people in ‘mainstream’ society in the form of policy initiatives to create and underpin new opportunities for young people to participate more fully within the community. The purpose of this study is twofold, firstly, it focuses on the experiences of young people living in a disadvantaged area and (re) considers their understandings of participation and citizenship. Secondly, the study aims to explore the extent of the role of membership in a ‘consumer’ citizenship within a market dominated postmodern society. Situated at the intersection of social in/exclusion, ‘active’ citizenship and participation debates surrounding young people, this thesis uses the lens of ‘belonging’ and ‘membership’ to explore the issues among young people living in the west of Scotland and aims to widen debates about citizenship. The findings demonstrate that young people’s interests often fail to be understood, largely as a result of the attitudes of those who represent them, many of whom conflate or substitute their own views for those of young people. The study demonstrates that citizenship and participation for young people is neither fixed nor static, but remains homogenous, fluid and deeply entangled with everyday life experiences