Understanding civic engagement among young Roma and young Turkish people in Turkey

Human Affairs - Tập 22 - Trang 419-433 - 2012
Ayşenur Ataman1, Figen Çok2, Tülin Şener3
1City University of New York; New York USA
2Faculty of Education, Baskent University, Adana, Turkey
3Faculty of Educational Sciences, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

Tóm tắt

Although a number of aspects of earlier experiences correlate with later civic engagement (Sherrod 2007), the role of different factors in driving the level of young people’s engagement is not clearly understood. This qualitative study set out to understand those factors in Turkey. Eight focus groups were conducted with 55 young Roma and Turkish people, with different groups being conducted according to participants’ ethnicity, gender and age (16–18 year olds vs. 20–26 year olds). Analysis revealed specific themes in terms of the political and civic engagement of different sub-groups. However, almost all participants expressed that they did not have enough information about their rights and obligations as citizens. They also identified the different barriers which they perceived as impeding their political involvement and participation.

Tài liệu tham khảo

Adaman, F., Keyder, Ç. (2006). Poverty and Social Exclusion in the Slum Areas of Large Cities in Turkey. Retrieved April 26, 2012 http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/social_inclusion/docs/2006/study_turkey_en.pdf. Barnes, S. H., Kaase, M. (1979). Political Action: Mass Participation in five Western Democracies. Beverly Hills and London: Sage Publication. Barry, B. (2001). Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism. Oxford: Polity Press. Brewer M.B., von Hipple W., Gooden M.P. (1999). Diversity and Organizational Identity: The Problem of Entrée after Entry. In D.A. Prentice and D.T. Miller (Eds.). Cultural Divides. New York: Russell Sage. Community Instruments and Policies for Roma Inclusion (2008). Retrieved August 3, 2011 http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=1585&langId=en De Piccoli, N., Colombo, M., Mosso, C. (2002). Active Participation as an Expression of the Sense of Community. Paper presented at the IV European Congress of Community Psychology, Barcelona, Spain, 8–11 November. Flanagan, C. A., Faison, N. (2001). Youth Civic Development: Implications of Research for Social Policy and Programs. Social Policy Report, Vol. XV (1). Ann Arbor, MI: Society for Research in Child Development. Flanagan, C., Sherrod, L. (1998). Youth Political Development: An Introduction. Journal of Social Issues 54 (3), 447–456. Gaertner, S. L., Dovidio, J. W., Nier, J. A., Ward, C.M., Banker, B.S. (1999). Across Cultural Divides: The Value of a Superordinate Identity. In D.A. Prentice, D.T. Miller (Eds.). Cultural Divides. New York: Russell Sage. Galston, W.A. (2001). Political Knowledge, Political Engagement, and Civic Education. Annual Review of Political Science 4, 217–234. IEA Civic Education Study: Citizenship and Education in Twenty-eight Countries Report (1999). International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (2006). Turkey: A Minority Policy of Systemic Negation. Report prepared by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, October 2006. Kaya, N., Baldwin, C. (2004). Minorities in Turkey: Submission to the European Union and the Government of Turkey. Retrieved April 26, 2012. www.minorityrights.org/download.php?id=183 Kolukirik, S., Toktas, S. (2007). Turkey’s Roma: Political Participation and Organization. Middle Eastern Studies 43, 761–777. Menezes, I. (2003). Participation Experiences and Civic Concepts, Attitudes and Engagement: Implications for Citizenship Education Projects. European Educational Research Journal 2, 430–445. Minority Rights Group International (2007). A Quest for Equality: Minorities in Turkey. Report prepared by Minority Rights International. Putnam, R. D. (1993). Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Sherrod, L. (2007). Civic Engagement as an Expression of Positive Youth Development. In R.K. Silbereisen and R. M. Lerner (Eds.). Approaches to Positive Youth Development. London: Sage Publications. Skocpol, T. (2003). Diminished Democracy. From Membership to Management in American Civic Life. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Skocpol, T., Fiorina, M.P. (1999). (Eds.). Civic Engagement in American Society, pp.1–27. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press. Stewart, E., Weinstein, R.S. (1997). Volunteer Participation in Context Motivations and Political Efficacy within Three AIDS Organizations. American Journal of Community Psychology 25, 809–837. Turkish Statistical Institute. (2010) Retrieved April 26, 2012. http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/PreTablo.do?tb_id=37&ust_id=11 UNDP. (2008). Human Development Report — Turkey 2008: Youth in Turkey. Ankara. Watts, R. J., Flanagan, C. (2007). Pushing the Envelope on Youth Civic Engagement: A Developmental and Liberation Psychology Perspective. Journal of Community Psychology 35, 779–792. Published online in Wiley InterScience. Wray-Lake, L., Syvertsen, A.B., Flanagan, C. (2008). Contested Citizenship and Social Exclusion: Adolescent Arab-American Immigrants’ Views of the Social Contract. Applied Developmental Science 12, 84–92. Zimmerman, M. A. (1995). Psychological Empowerment: Issues and Illustrations. American Journal of Community Psychology 23, 581–599.