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Skateboarding alone? Making social capital discourse relevant to teenagers’ lives

Skateboarding alone? Making social capital discourse relevant to teenagers’ lives
Skateboarding alone? Making social capital discourse relevant to teenagers’ lives
Bound to the notion of teenage apathy is the concern that young people are increasingly disengaged from political and community issues and lacking in social capital. Voting is often regarded as the ultimate form of civic engagement, which implicitly excludes young teenagers from consideration through their status as non-voters. Teenagers’ alternative forms of participation are rarely valued as legitimate acts of civic engagement. As a result, many of the dominant writers on social capital neglect teenagers’ abilities to generate and utilize social capital. Drawing on a three-year research project undertaken with over 600 teenagers aged 13–16, this paper uses three illustrative examples to highlight the ways in which teenagers deploy their social capital in order to transform people and places in two key ways. Firstly, teenagers’ alternative forms of civic engagement are highlighted, demonstrating the ways in which many (re)shape their environments by, for example, campaigning for skate park facilities. Secondly, teenagers’ alternative understandings of community, many of which are associated with lifestyle choices, are explored. In doing so, the paper brings to the fore the significance of teenagers’ social capital.
1367-6261
557-574
Weller, Susie
6ad1e079-1a7c-41bf-8678-bff11c55142b
Weller, Susie
6ad1e079-1a7c-41bf-8678-bff11c55142b

Weller, Susie (2006) Skateboarding alone? Making social capital discourse relevant to teenagers’ lives. Journal of Youth Studies, 9 (5), 557-574. (doi:10.1080/13676260600805705).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Bound to the notion of teenage apathy is the concern that young people are increasingly disengaged from political and community issues and lacking in social capital. Voting is often regarded as the ultimate form of civic engagement, which implicitly excludes young teenagers from consideration through their status as non-voters. Teenagers’ alternative forms of participation are rarely valued as legitimate acts of civic engagement. As a result, many of the dominant writers on social capital neglect teenagers’ abilities to generate and utilize social capital. Drawing on a three-year research project undertaken with over 600 teenagers aged 13–16, this paper uses three illustrative examples to highlight the ways in which teenagers deploy their social capital in order to transform people and places in two key ways. Firstly, teenagers’ alternative forms of civic engagement are highlighted, demonstrating the ways in which many (re)shape their environments by, for example, campaigning for skate park facilities. Secondly, teenagers’ alternative understandings of community, many of which are associated with lifestyle choices, are explored. In doing so, the paper brings to the fore the significance of teenagers’ social capital.

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More information

Published date: 2006
Organisations: Faculty of Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 378766
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/378766
ISSN: 1367-6261
PURE UUID: 7f544dd9-7c01-4f83-9ef4-feec360b20b1
ORCID for Susie Weller: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6839-876X

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Date deposited: 06 Jul 2015 14:25
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:52

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Author: Susie Weller ORCID iD

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