‘Upturned participation’ and youth work: using a Critical Utopian Action Research approach to foster engagement

ABSTRACT

This article reflects on how participatory processes inspired by action research hold a genuine potential for developing social educational work in a more democratic way. We present our concept of ‘Upturned Participation’, which is built upon the methodological framework of Critical Utopian Action Research. First Critical Utopian Action Research is introduced briefly, including a presentation of the core method of the action research approach. We then present an extract from an action research project aimed at creating space for participation for marginalized young people in the area of Copenhagen. On this basis, we reflect on how the ideas of the young people could influence the field of social work. The article addresses contemporary challenges and opportunities for creating development in the field of youth work or social work through participatory processes with marginalized young people.

KEYWORDS:

• Participation
• marginalized youth
• youth work
• Critical Utopian Action Research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. It is worth mentioning that the matching ladder of participation for children and young people is developed by Roger Hart. According to Hart children and young people of all ages have the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives, because they are expert citizens (Hart 1992). In an article for UNICEF in 1992 aimed at creating a dialogue about children’s rights and participation in democratization processes, Hart introduces his ladder of participation which has since been adopted all over the world with the aim of assessing the extent to which children are involved in different processes in their daily lives. Hart’s ladder of participation is a modified version of Arnstein’s ladder of participation, as it has been modified to suit children’s/youth contexts. However, while Hart’s model is an assessment tool, Arnstein’s model is a (social) critical analysis.

2. To read more about Future Workshops as method, see amongst others: Jungk and Müllert (1984), Bladt (2013), Drewes (2006) or Husted and Tofteng (2007).