Political engagement trajectories of youth activists following recruitment into high-intensity mobilisation

ABSTRACT

Using in-depth interview data of young adults who participated in the University of Kent student occupation, this paper (1) explores the process by which young people enter into and engage in high-intensity mobilisation and (2) seeks to understand how this mobilisation (and prior engagement) impacts future political trajectories of these youth activists as they grow into adulthood. Recruitment and initial engagement in high-intensity mobilisation correspond to concepts used to explain civic engagement in Verba, Schlozman and Brady’s ([1995]. Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in American politics. Cambridge: Mass: Harvard University Press) civic voluntarism model. Political trajectories following high-intensity engagement appeared to correspond with engagement prior to participation in the occupation, with those who had lower levels of prior engagement able to sustain their activism well beyond the initial high-intensity engagement. Those with greater activist experiences prior to the occupation and earlier in their youth reduced their engagement following the high-intensity mobilisation. While patterns of trajectories from young adulthood to adulthood appeared, the causal mechanisms varied significantly.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth civic engagement
• mobilisation
• social movements
• student activism
• life-course changes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 A study of the student occupation in Newcastle University also found that their core group consisted of approximately 30 students (Rheingans and Hollands 2013).

2 However, plans for an occupation were prepared prior to the publication of this letter.

3 ‘Fresher’s year’ refers to the first year of university which is typically not counted towards the degree classification (similar to the grade point average) in universities in the U.K.

4 All names of interviewees have been changed to preserve anonymity.