Promoting civic and political engagement among marginalized urban youth in three cities: Strategies and challenges

Over the past decade and more, there has been a significant emphasis in western societies on policy processes to engage youth in civic and political life. Concerns about the extent to which marginalized urban young people in particular have become disengaged from civic and political life has been a common, and contested, theme in youth policy. Currently, there is a dearth of literature exploring how policy provisions have been translated into practice on the ground. In this paper, we draw on semi-structured interviews with 66 policymakers, public officials, and youth work practitioners in London, Belfast, and Dublin to explore the strategies used to engage urban youth and to identify the key challenges associated with these efforts. The strategies used in youth engagement efforts include youth work, deliberative forums, volunteerism, arts, sports and media, non-formal education and technology and social media. Challenges associated with youth civic and political engagement include youth alienation from their communities and institutions, capacity and resource limitations, ritual rather than real engagement and challenges of inclusion.