Youth councils in municipal government: Examination of activities, impact and barriers

This study reports on youth councils in 24 municipalities in one major metropolitan area. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with one key adult stakeholder in each municipality in order to understand the scope, structure, functioning, activities, and impact of youth councils. These data were supplemented with review of documents and websites that described the councils. Findings indicated that youth councils were engaged in a wide-range of activities suggesting the model is fluid to meet the needs of both the youth and the community. Specific impacts were identified by participants some of which were directly related to the delivery of activities and others which influenced policy change. Among the barriers identified was the continuing need to identify a broader range of youth to participate in these initiatives. Despite a societal need for greater youth civic engagement and the generally positive attitude toward this idea, youth councils remain limited in practice and the research base is under-developed. Our study contributes to advancing both practice and research

Diversity and privilege in Newton, Massachusetts: how young people make sense of their suburban community

This dissertation draws on the context of an elite suburb in order to understand the transmission of privilege and how an elite space – and its residents – respond to inequality. The suburbs occupy a complicated role in the narrative of U.S. inequality and racial residential segregation. While many of the first suburbs were explicitly upper class retreats, and later government-funded communities for white, middle-class families, today there are many kinds of suburbs – some poor, some rich, some racially heterogeneous, and others not. Urban scholars often ignore the relationship between cities and their surrounding suburbs, and while community scholars provide us with an understanding that “place matters,” few studies investigate this ethos in suburbia. I use ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews to highlight the community of Newton, MA in order to build a greater understanding of U.S. inequality and the transmission of privilege. For the purpose of this dissertation, Newton can be rightfully classified as an elite suburb given its subjective distinction among residents (e.g. as a “bubble”), as well as its objective characteristics as elite regarding its typology, scholarship, history, geography, and demography. Adult residents, the City, and the schools all offer distinct responses to inequality. While these actors position themselves differently towards Newton, I posit that each attempt to whitewash inequality – a disposition towards inequality that attempts to eschew responsibility while simultaneously maintaining a privileged position. Whitewashing inequality is accomplished, in part, through an adherence to the tenets of the diversity ideology – a racial ideology that centers an understanding of race based on the experiences of Whites and their ability to diffuse the meaning of difference. Youth growing up in the “bubble” of Newton, are faced with the task of sorting through the adult responses to inequality in order to find their own sense of self within the community. The task of weighing the pros and cons of the community is most evident in youth response to the question of returning to the community, or not, as adults. Even for those desiring to return, there is a normative sense of first needing to flee the homogeneity of Newton, in order to experience life “outside of the bubble.” In the second empirical chapter I explore in depth the ubiquity of privilege within Newton. Adults and youth define privilege in ambiguous ways that often point to the “super rich” as responsible for perceptions of the community as a wealthy place. While privilege is defined ambiguously, it most often refers to socioeconomic status, thus avoiding racial privilege and taking for granted educational privilege. The ambiguity and ubiquity of privilege fuel important tensions that reinforce, rather than challenge the community’s privilege. In the second chapter I illustrate the “in but not of” experiences of people of color in Newton, and the “stress culture” students experience around academic achievement. Adults protect the community’s privilege through a prioritization of educational excellence and youth unconsciously learn to likewise maintain their privilege. These findings deepen understandings of how privilege is transmitted (and protected), while helping to explore responses towards inequality from the top of the economic, social, and political hierarchy. Elite suburbs in general, and Newton specifically, play an important role within their region, utilizing and hoarding public resources to their advantage. How communities like Newton conceptualize and maintain privilege fundamentally aids in the perpetuation of economic inequality and residential segregation

Youth Lead the Change: Participatory Budgeting

This evaluation report examines the Youth Lead the Change process in its third year, drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from a variety of sources. The Boston University evaluation team reports their findings and summarizes the conclusions with recommendations to further develop this innovative effort to engage youth in city government.The year 2015-2016 marks the third year of Youth Lead the Change: Participatory Budgeting Boston, a program that enables young people from across the city to suggest ideas for capital projects that will bring long-term physical improvements to city-owned property. This evaluation report examines the Youth Lead the Change process in its third year, drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from a variety of sources. The Boston University evaluation team reports their findings and summarizes the conclusions with recommendations to further develop this innovative effort to engage youth in city government.Boston University Initiative on Citie

Youth Lead the Change: Participatory Budgeting

This evaluation report examines the Youth Lead the Change process in its third year, drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from a variety of sources. The Boston University evaluation team reports their findings and summarizes the conclusions with recommendations to further develop this innovative effort to engage youth in city government.The year 2015-2016 marks the third year of Youth Lead the Change: Participatory Budgeting Boston, a program that enables young people from across the city to suggest ideas for capital projects that will bring long-term physical improvements to city-owned property. This evaluation report examines the Youth Lead the Change process in its third year, drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from a variety of sources. The Boston University evaluation team reports their findings and summarizes the conclusions with recommendations to further develop this innovative effort to engage youth in city government.Boston University Initiative on Citie

Engaging Youth in Local Government: Lessons from the Boston Region

There is widespread consensus that young people have a right to be directly involved in decisions that affect them, and an understanding that adults are the ones who must create formal pathways of engagement. Yet there remains limited empirical information about the best ways to do so. This paper identifies key lessons gleaned from a multi-method study of twenty-four operating municipal youth councils throughout the greater Boston region. The insight assembled here is based on interviews with youth and adult stakeholders, observations of council meetings, a review of council documents, as well as a review of relevant academic literature. It is intended to guide practitioners in developing or reforming local youth councils.Boston University Initiative on Citie

Gentrification is Political: How Local Government Fosters Community Change

This is an ethnographic study of Somerville, MA highlighting the political process and material stakes of gentrification, through 11 in-depth interviews and participant observations at public meetings and events. The gentrification literature often highlights the cultural narratives of residents experiencing community change. Cultural narratives are the stories people tell about themselves and where they live. This study seeks to examine the distinction between how residents frame themselves and how the local government frames its residents. How are residents culturally framed in Somerville? What role does the local government play in gentrification? How does Somerville\u27s government symbolize its residents, and for what ends? Gentrification is a set of political decisions that shape the character and ultimate outcome of development. The cultural narratives often obscure the political process because the authenticity generated and promoted by the local government does not fully articulate how residents and social groups feel about gentrification