Online Communities, Gen Y and Civic Engagement: An Investigation of Youth Leadership Development Potential in the Context of Social and Democratic Issues

Leadership is an extensively discussed and researched concept in scholarship. A vast amount of literature focuses on adult leadership, especially in a political and organizational context. Adult leadership places emphasis on the role of individual leaders, whilst youth leadership takes a participatory approach. Leadership scholars indicate that this participatory approach to youth leadership, involves young people addressing community concerns and at a civic level, engaging in planning and decision-making. Social participation traits and civic identity are developed during adolescence yet very little research has been undertaken in this area since the 1960s. This suggests that youth leadership is an overlooked research stream. Current studies on Gen Y indicate that this demographic are technologically proficient especially with regard to Web 2.0 tools, but also disengaged from their community. This research project examines the use of online communities to influence the leadership skills of a Gen Y cohort in the context of social participation and civic engagement. In this study a focus group and an online wiki were used to investigate how Gen Y teenagers in Wellington, New Zealand used online communities to develop and exercise their leadership skills through civic and social action endeavours. Results from the study indicate that youth leadership, in an online context, centres on the role of organisers who foster civic participation through online community networks. Thus youth leadership is strengthened through participation in civic and community issues using online communities. Adult perceptions of youth and the low credibility of online communities, as perceived by youth, were found to act as barriers to online youth leadership. The findings highlight the importance of adults acknowledging youth in social participation and civic endeavours. This study extends research in the youth leadership stream and enhances our understanding of Gen Y and their use of online communities

Tracing Kenyan Women’s Involvement in Elections and Political Leadership from 1963-2002

The chapter will construct an understanding of Kenyan women’s experiences of electoral politics by examining the life stories and, subsequently, the emergence of women in political leadership from 1960 through to 2002. The chapter investigates the challenges women face when running for and functioning within elective positions because of a male dominated political landscape, where Kenyan women are caught between pre-colonial and post-colonial societal culture, and the private and public sphere. The life stories of a selection of Kenyan women leaders are to demonstrate how they navigate a male dominated political landscape while working to attain elected positions. As such, their life-stories present key political and social events that were critical to these women’s journey towards elective positions. Against the backdrop of key socio-political events in Kenya’s history, such as the Mau Mau insurgency, independence, and the institutionalization of multi-party – politics play a significant role in shaping women’s experiences of seeking elected posts. These events and memories offer greater understandings of women’s history in electoral politics in Kenya. This study, therefore, contributes to an underserved area in leadership literature employing memories and voices that are often marginalised. At the same time, due to a reliance on oral history in Africa, many histories are often lost. Therefore, capturing women’s post-colonial history in written form is important in order to establish a Kenyan women’s history, the study connects these personalities to the wider trajectory of Kenyan and African politics

Online Communities, Gen Y and Civic Engagement: An Investigation of Youth Leadership Development Potential in the Context of Social and Democratic Issues

Leadership is an extensively discussed and researched concept in scholarship. A vast amount of literature focuses on adult leadership, especially in a political and organizational context. Adult leadership places emphasis on the role of individual leaders, whilst youth leadership takes a participatory approach. Leadership scholars indicate that this participatory approach to youth leadership, involves young people addressing community concerns and at a civic level, engaging in planning and decision-making. Social participation traits and civic identity are developed during adolescence yet very little research has been undertaken in this area since the 1960s. This suggests that youth leadership is an overlooked research stream. Current studies on Gen Y indicate that this demographic are technologically proficient especially with regard to Web 2.0 tools, but also disengaged from their community. This research project examines the use of online communities to influence the leadership skills of a Gen Y cohort in the context of social participation and civic engagement. In this study a focus group and an online wiki were used to investigate how Gen Y teenagers in Wellington, New Zealand used online communities to develop and exercise their leadership skills through civic and social action endeavours. Results from the study indicate that youth leadership, in an online context, centres on the role of organisers who foster civic participation through online community networks. Thus youth leadership is strengthened through participation in civic and community issues using online communities. Adult perceptions of youth and the low credibility of online communities, as perceived by youth, were found to act as barriers to online youth leadership. The findings highlight the importance of adults acknowledging youth in social participation and civic endeavours. This study extends research in the youth leadership stream and enhances our understanding of Gen Y and their use of online communities

Where Women Are

While the drama of the complicated 2017 General election in Kenya unfolded and the clash between the patriarchs dominated the headlines, women were once again relegated to a secondary position in the public conversation. ‘Flower girls’. ‘Someone’s Wife’. These are some of the terms used to describe Kenyan women in politics - as simply accompanying and supporting men rather than having complex identities and public lives of their own. Yet Kenyan women were present and active, pushing against layers of structural and physical gendered violence to claim space in the political arena. This collection captures some of the stories and experiences of women participating in the heated 2017 general election in Kenya in order to shed light on the nuances and complexities facing women who choose to enter electoral politics. From stories of rural women using traditional social networks to access political power, to young urban women defying expectations and confronting an electorate that was conditioned to ignore them, these stories not only highlight the problems that women face but also the ingenious ways they navigate the spaces that do exist. Kenyan women are present and active in politics and this book works to see and understand where they are