Cox, Lynne

Lister, Ruth

Middleton, Sue

Smith, Noel

English

IDS OpenDocs

114
Introduction
‘Vocabularies of citizenship’ and their meanings vary according to
social, political and cultural context, and reflect different historical
legacies (Bussemaker and Voet 1998; Carens 2000; Saraceno 1997; Siim
2000). They are translated into ‘lived citizenship’: ‘the meaning that
citizenship actually has in people’s lives and the ways in which people’s
social and cultural backgrounds and material circumstances affect their
lives as citizens’ (Hall and Williamson 1999, p. 2). Yet, ‘very little is
known about the realities of how different people understand
themselves as citizens’ (Jones and Gaventa 2002, p. 28). This con-
clusion, reached in a recent review of the citizenship literature, echoes
the earlier observation in an empirical study by Conover et al. that
much theoretical debate in the North about the meaning of citizenship
is ‘conducted in what is virtually an empirical void’ (1991, p. 801).
Although there have since been a few studies of how citizens themselves
understand citizenship, compared with recent theoretical outpourings
the empirical void is far from being filled. 
This chapter reports findings from a three-year qualitative,
longitudinal study of how young people in Britain negotiate the
transitions to citizenship. One hundred and ten young people in the
East Midlands town of Leicester, aged 16 to 17, 18 to 19 and 22 to 23 in
1999, were interviewed.1 There was a gender balance and about one in
eight was Asian, predominately of Indian-Hindu background (to reflect
Leicester’s main minority ethnic community). Given the salience of
paid work to contemporary characterizations of citizenship, the group
was stratified according to ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ status as a proxy for
Seven
Young people talking about
citizenship in Britain
Ruth Lister
with Noel Smith, Sue Middleton, Lynne Cox
Kabeer 07  30/11/04  11:28 am  Page 114
Young people talking about citizenship in Britain \ 115
social class. ‘Insiders’ conformed with a stereotypical model of the
‘successful’ young person as on the route through A-levels and univer-
sity and into graduate-type employment; ‘outsiders’ fell well outside it,
with few or no qualifications and a record of unemployment for most of
the time since leaving school. By the third and final interview in 2001,
64 of the original group remained.2
The study needs to be understood in the context of the New Labour
government’s desire to strengthen citizenship, and of growing public
concern about young people’s relationship to citizenship in the face of
perceived apathy and disengagement (Advisory Group on Citizenship
1998; Pearce and Hallgarten 2000). The study throws light on young
people’s understandings of citizenship and the extent to which they
identify themselves and act as citizens. More specifically, the chapter
looks at notions of ‘first class’ and ‘second class’ and ‘good’ and ‘bad’
citizenship, and at perceptions of rights and responsibilities. It concludes
by comparing the young people’s constructions of citizenship with
those found in dominant theoretical and political models.
The meaning(s) of citizenship
Until recently, citizenship has not been a salient idea in the British
political tradition. Few people therefore have a clear idea of what it
means to be a citizen (Dean with Melrose 1999; Miller 2000; Speaker’s
Commission 1990). Not surprisingly, citizenship was not part of the
everyday language of the young people in our study. Nevertheless, the
idea resonated with their own attempts to make sense of their position
in society. Five models of citizenship emerged. Moving from the most
to the least articulated, these are as follows.
‘Universal status’
At its most inclusive, everyone is understood to be a citizen by virtue of
membership of the community or nation. In a ‘thin’ version, this
reflected a view that ‘citizen’ means ‘person’. This was the response
given by a number of ‘outsiders’ in particular. For one, a 19-year-old
white male, citizenship didn’t ‘mean owt’, but he added that ‘it’s just a
person at the end of the day – a citizen’. For another, a 19-year-old
‘outsider’ white female, ‘it doesn’t matter what they do, everybody’s a
citizen’.
A ‘thicker’ understanding drew on notions of ‘belonging’ – to either
the local or national community. Two participants summed it up:
‘Belonging. I think being part of something … a sense of belonging’ (16-
year-old ‘insider’ white female); ‘citizenship is about being somewhere,
Kabeer 07  30/11/04  11:28 am  Page 115
116 / Citizenship and identity
belonging somewhere’ (16-year-old ‘outsider’ Asian female). Overall,
there were no obvious gender differences, but ‘insiders’ were more
likely to subscribe to the universal status model and young Asians did so
more consistently over the three years. However, in another study in
the Economic and Social Research Council programme, African-
Caribbean and Pakistani young people rejected the notion of citizenship
as a universal status. Instead, ‘many were convinced that citizenship was
hierarchised and unequal’ (Harris et al. 2001: 50). 
‘Respectable economic independence’ 
This model is embodied by a person who is in waged employment, pays
taxes and has a family and their own house: ‘the respectable
economically independent citizen’, associated with the economic and
social status quo. As a 16-year-old ‘outsider’ white male put it: ‘I think
as soon as you’re living in your own house, out working, paying your
bills, that’s when you’re a citizen’. A 16-year-old ‘insider’ white male
defined a citizen as being ‘a working part of the country’, which would
mean ‘when I’ve got a house, wife, kids, job going on’. The model
underpinned understandings of ‘first class’ and ‘second class’ citizenship,
discussed below. It effectively excludes many of the young people
themselves in the short term because of age or dependence on their
parents, and, in the longer term, some ‘outsiders’ because of anticipated
unemployment and their generally disadvantaged labour market
position. The young men were more likely to invoke this model;
otherwise there were no clear patterns. 
‘Constructive social participation’ 
Here, citizenship denotes a constructive stance towards the community.
This ranged from the more passive abiding by the law to the more
active idea of citizenship as responsible practice – helping people and
having a positive impact. A 22-year-old ‘outsider’ white female
summed it up: ‘A citizen is where you’re helping in the community …
You’re helping people and you’re trying to do your best. Trying to
support where you are’. On this basis she considered that people ‘who
can’t be assed to get off their beer bellies and help are not a citizen or
anything. They don’t care what happens around them’. A 16-year-old
Asian male was one of a number of ‘insiders’ who talked about being
responsible and contributing as part of a reciprocal relationship with the
community or society: ‘Being responsible; being mature about
everything and again, not just taking, giving back… It’s helping out in
as many ways as you can’. This ‘constructive social participation’ model
underpinned notions of ‘good’ citizenship discussed below. ‘Outsiders’
Kabeer 07  30/11/04  11:28 am  Page 116


Young People Talking About Citizenship In Britain

https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/20.500.12413/12478/1/lister_etal_2005_young.pdf

Young People Talking About Citizenship In Britain

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