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POL 300H1 F- Topics in Comparative Politics
Department of Political Science, University of Toronto
Summer 2015, T-R 10-12.00
Course Title: Politics of Youth in Comparative Perspective
Begum Uzun, [email protected]
Office hours/location:TBD
Course Description
A resurgence of academic interest has emerged in the last decade in young people’s
relation to politics and political activism. Scholars of political participation draw attention
to declining levels of conventional participation among current generation of young
people. They have found that young people show little knowledge of formal politics, and
are less likely to vote or align with political parties. These political trends prevalent
among youth are claimed to result in a “democratic deficit” in most established
democracies. In contrast, some observers emphasize that young people across the world
are political, albeit in alternative ways. They are politically expressive outside
conventional forms of participation ranging from protests and occupations to strikes and
online activism. Young people indeed have recently been forerunners of various
contentious movements across the world including but not limited to: OccupyWallStreet
in the US, student strikes in Chile and Quebec, Arab Revolutions in the Middle East and
the Gezi Resistance in Turkey. Young people have thus attained salient roles through
direct forms of action in transforming regimes, public policies and/or state-society
relations.
This course aims to move beyond the mainstream approaches to youth political
participation and attract attention to emerging forms of political activism among current
generation of young people. It will bring interdisciplinary scholarship on contemporary
youth activisms in different parts of the world. The major goal is to discuss different
aspects of youth political engagement and build comparisons among youth activisms of
various types.
The course will first discuss different conceptualizations of the category of youth and will
move forward looking into contesting theoretical approaches on young people’s political
participation. It will finally introduce cases of youth involvement in various
political/social movements across the world. The course aims to enable a vivid class
discussion on contemporary youth demands and their political implications.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be familiar with different theoretical approaches
on youth political participation; explore various types of political engagement among
their generational counterparts in different parts of the world; identify similarities and
1 differences among contemporary youth activisms; and consider the role of youth
contentious politics in enabling political change.
Course Readings
There is one required book for this course:
Kennelly, J. (2011). Citizen Youth: Culture, Activism, and Agency in a Neoliberal Era.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
The book will be available in Course Reserves at Robarts Library and also for purchase at
the University of Toronto bookstore.
Most of the required readings are online journal articles or chapters from ebooks.These
can be accessed through the Library’s online electronic catalogue. Chapters from imprint
books will be available on Blackboard.
Course Requirements
Students are expected to attend all classes, do the course readings every week and
participate in class discussions. The class will be discussion-oriented, active participation
is thus crucial. There will be a midterm test, a book review, and a final test.
Attendance and participation:20%
Midterm exam: 30%. All the assigned readings and lectures from week 1 through week
6.
Book review: 20%. Students will prepare a review of the book, Citizen Youth: Culture,
Activism, and Agency in a Neoliberal Era by J. Kennelly.
Final exam: 30%. All the assigned readings and lectures from week 7 through week 12.
Book Review Guidelines:
1. The review should be 8-10 pages long, double-spaced,12 pt. font.
2. It is due on June 11th.
3. The review should:
i.
identify the research objectives and the main argument(s) of the book.
ii.
reflect on its methodology and the type of data it relies on.
iii.
critically assess the findings and the relevance of the arguments.
iv.
discuss the book’s theoretical and empirical contribution to the study of
youth political activism.
4. Detailed guidelines will be provided in class before the due date.
5. There will be a 5% late penalty per day.
2 Academic Integrity: While I don't expect to encounter instances of cheating in this class,
you should be aware that I take academic integrity very seriously, and that there are
significant consequences if you are caught cheating or engaging in academic misconduct.
All academic work in this course must adhere to the Code of Behaviour on Academic
Matters.
• In written work, all sources used must be correctly cited, and if material is copied
directly, appropriately cited and placed within quotation marks.
• Exams and tests must be written without the use or possession of unauthorized
aids, including notes and cellular phones.
• If you work or study with friends, protect your work by not sharing or emailing
your notes or assignments. You can help friends by discussing your ideas together
and comparing your notes from lectures, but all written work must be completed
on your own.
• You can find help with your assigned work by seeing me in office hours, speaking
with your TA, or visiting the many resources available on campus.
Accessibility needs: The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility. If you
require accommodation or have any accessibility concerns, please let me know or visit
http://www.accessibility.utoronto.ca
1. Introduction (May 12th)
Jeffrey, C. (2010). “Geographies of children and youth I: eroding maps of life”, Progress
in Human Geography 34(4): 496-505.
Recommended:
Pew Research Center (February 24,2010). Report: “Millennials, A Portrait of Generation
Next: Confident, Connected, Open to Change”. Executive Summary. Retrieved from:
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/02/24/millennials-confident-connected-open-tochange/
2. How to define the category of ‘youth’ (May 14th)
Mannheim, K. (1972). "The Problem of Generations". In P. G. Altbach, & R. S.
Laufer(eds), The New Pilgrims: Youth Protest in Transition (pp. 286-312). New York:
David McKay Company, Inc.
Bourdieu, P. (1993). “‘Youth’ is Just a Word.” In P. Bourdieu Sociology in Question (pp.
94-102). London, Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage.
3 3. Theoretical Approaches on Youth Political Participation-I (May 19th)
Milner, H. (2010). The Internet Generation: engaged citizens or political dropouts.
Lebanon NH : University Press of New England. Chapter 1 and Chaper 4.
Norris, P. (2003, November 27-28th ). "Young People and Political Activism: From the
Politics of Loyalties to the Politics of Choice". Keynote at the Council of Europe
Symposium
on
young
people
and
activism
.
Retrieved
from:
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/pnorris/Acrobat/COE%20Young%20People%20and%20P
olitical%20Activism.pdf.
Recommended:
O’Toole, T., D. Marsh and S. Jones (2003). “Political Literacy Cuts both Ways: The
Politics of Non-participation among Young people”. The Political Quarterly 74(3),:34960.
Blais, A., Gidengil, E., Nevitte, N., & Nadeau, R. (2003, July). "Turned off or Tuned
Out?". Electoral Insight , available online:
http://www.elections.ca/res/eim/article_search/article.asp?id=48&lang=e&frmPageSize=.
4. Theoretical Approaches on Youth Political Participation-II (May 21st)
Harris, A., J. Wyn, and S. Younes (2010). “Beyond apathetic or activist youth
‘Ordinary’ young people and contemporary forms of participation”. Young: Nordic
Journal of Youth Research, 18(1): 9-32.
Farthing, R. (2010). "The politics of youthful antipolitics: representing the 'issue' of youth
participation in politics". Journal of Youth Studies" , 13(2):181-195.
5. Alter-globalization and OccupyMovements (May 26th)
Pleyers, G. (2005). “Young people and alter-globalisation: from disillusionment to a new
culture of political participation”. In J. Forbrig (ed) Revisiting Youth Political
Participation: Challenges for research and democratic practice in Europe (pp:133-143).
Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
Welty, E., M. Bolton and N. Zukowski (2012/2013(online)). “Occupy Wall Street as a
Palimpsest: Overview of a Dynamic Movement”. In E. Welty, M. Bolton, M. Nayak and
C. Malone(eds) Occupying Political Science: The Occupy Wall Street Movement from
New York to the World (pp:25-57). Palgrave Macmillan. Available as ebook through
library’s online catalogue.
4 6. Youth Activism against neoliberal education (May 28th)
Cabalin, C. (2010). “Neoliberal Education and Student Movements in Chile: inequalities
and malaise”. Policy Features in Education 10(2): 219-228.
Bégin-Caouette, O. and G. A. Jones. (2014). “Student organizations in Canada and
Quebec’s Maple Spring”. Studies in Higher Education, 39(3): 412-425.
Recommended:
Ratcliffe,R. (March 25th,2015). “University protests around the world: a fight against
commercialization”. The Guardian. (Accessed on: 04.02.2015). Retrieved from:
http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2015/mar/25/university-protestsaround-the-world-a-fight-against-commercialisation
7. MIDTERM EXAM (June 2nd)
8. Youth Politics in post-colonial Africa (June 4th)
Comaroff J and Comaroff J (2005). “Reflections on youth:From the past to the
postcolony”. In: Honwana A and DeBoeck F (eds) Makers and Breakers: Children and
Youth in Postcolonial Africa. Oxford: James Currey, 19–30.
Abdullah, I. (2005). “ ‘I am a rebel’: Youth, Culture and Violence in Sierra Leone”. In:
Honwana A and DeBoeck F (eds) Makers and Breakers: Children and Youth in
Postcolonial Africa. Oxford: James Currey,171-187.
Durham D.(2008). “Apathy and agency: The romance of agency and youth in Botswana”.
In: Cole J and Durham D (eds) Figuring the Future: Children, Youth, and Globalization.
Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press, 151–178.
9. ‘Online rebels’: Digital youth activism (June 9th)
Livingstone, S., N. Couldry and T. Markham. (2007). “Youthful steps towards civic
participation : does the Internet help?”. In B. D. Loader (ed). Young Citizens in the
Digital Age: Political Engagement, Young People and New Media. (pp:22-34). London ;
New York : Routledge. Available as ebook through library’s online catalogue.
Beyer, J. L. (2014). Expect us : Online Communities and Political Mobilization. Oxford ;
New York : Oxford University Press. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. Available as ebook
through library’s online catalogue.
5 10. Youth resistance against Authoritarian regimes-I: Middle East (June 11th)
Bayat, A. (2010). “Muslim Youth and the Claim of Youthfulness”. In A. Bayat and L.
Herrera (eds) Being Young and Muslim: New Cultural Politics in the Global South and
North (pp: 28-48). Oxford Scholarship Online. Available as ebook through library’s
online catalogue.
Sofos, S. A. (2014). “In Lieu of Conclusion: Rallying for Gezi, or Metaphors of Aporia
and Empowerment”. In U. Ozkirimli(ed) The Making of a Protest Movement in Turkey
(pp:134-141). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York, NY : Palgrave
Macmillan. Available as ebook through library’s online catalogue.
Recommended:
Alemderoglu, A. (July 18, 2013). “From Cynicism to Protest: Reflections on Youth and
Politics in Turkey”. Jadaliyya. (accessed on 07.09.2013). Retrieved from:
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/13048/from-cynicism-to-protest_reflections-onyouth-and-.
*BOOK REVIEWS ARE DUE!!
11. Youth resistance against authoritarian regimes-II: Asia (June 16th)
Wright, T. (2012). “China: Regime Shakers and Regime Supporters”. In M. Weiss and
E. Aspinall (eds) Student activism in Asia: between protest and powerlessness (p:33-55)
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Available as ebook through library’s online
catalogue
Aspinall, E. (2012). “Indonesia: Moral Force Politics and The Struggle Against
Authoritarianism”. In M. Weiss and E. Aspinall (eds) Student activism in Asia: between
protest and powerlessness (p:153-179) . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Available as ebook through library’s online catalogue.
12. Youth Revolutionaries: Youth involvement in Arab Revolutions (June 18th)
Murphy, E. C. (2012). “Problematizing Arab Youth: Generational Narratives of
Systemic Failure”. Mediterranean Politics, 17(1): 5-22.
Erlich, H. (2015). Youth and revolution in the changing Middle East, 1908-2014.
Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. Chapter 7.
Recommended:
Documentary, “The Square (Al Midan, original title)”, by Jehane Noujaim, 2013, 95 min
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