The potential for civic and political engagement practice in social work as a means of achieving greater rights and justice for marginalised youth

ABSTRACT

This paper argues that attention to theory and practice relating to civic and political engagement (CPE) can lead to a stronger value orientation among social workers towards human rights and social justice when working with marginalised young people. Based on findings of a study based on three European cities (Dublin, Belfast and London), we demonstrate the potential for social work to embrace a specific focus on CPE as a means of achieving greater human rights and social justice for marginalised youth. Speaking specifically to the purpose of social work to promote active social citizenship within the context of social work paradigms, we discuss how a critical consideration of learning from research can be used to advance transformative social work practices. We outline ways CPE strategies can be used with young people, their families and communities to promote partnership and maximise the positive potential of proactive involvement in civic and political matters affecting their own lives. We conclude that CPE could be used more widely, in the context of citizenship based social work, to enhance the potential for transformative human rights and social justice practice with marginalised young people.

KEYWORDS:

• Civic and political engagement
• citizenship
• human rights
• social justice

Acknowledgements

We would like to sincerely thank all of the young people and stakeholders who participated in the project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Professor Caroline McGregor is Professor of Political Science and Sociology-Social Work and Senior Researcher at the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.

Dr Bernadine Brady is a Lecturer at the School of Political Science & Sociology, NUI, Galway and a Senior Researcher with the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre.

Professor Robert J. Chaskin is the McCormick Foundation Professor and Deputy Dean for Strategic Initiatives at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, where he holds the UNESCO Chair for Inclusive Urbanism.

Additional information

Funding

The research on which this paper is based was supported by funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 661541; H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.