TURKISH YOUTH IN THE EUROPEAN KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY

ABSTRACT

Globalisation and Europeanisation are complementary and partly overlapping processes that identify the increasingly supranational context in which political and educational systems are operating. This article explores how Turkish youth in two German and English secondary schools relate to the European knowledge economy, and how their political identities are shaped by school dynamics (ethos, curriculum and peer cultures) and social class positioning.1 Drawing upon mainly qualitative data, the paper indicates that when the concept of Europe is allied to multiculturalism, there is the possibility of including minority ethnic groups like the Turkish Muslims and giving them the opportunity of relating to the European knowledge economy. If, however, Europe is understood as a white Christian concept, then Turkish teenagers will struggle to relate positively to Europe as a political identity. The article not only gives voice to young Turkish Muslims in Europe but also assesses the potential for Europe to be a common ground for all youth to negotiate their identities.

¹An earlier version of this paper was presented to the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) in Dublin, September 2005. The presentation was highlighted in the Times Educational Supplement, 16 September 2005 (No. 4652).

Keywords:

• European knowledge economy
• Turkish youth
• political identities
• social class
• school dynamics
• comparative research

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to Madeleine Arnot for her great interest in my work and her detailed comments on earlier versions of this article. I also thank the Economic and Social Research Council (Award No.: PTA-030-2002-00853), the Cambridge European Trust and Clare Hall College Cambridge for their financial contributions.

Notes

¹An earlier version of this paper was presented to the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) in Dublin, September 2005. The presentation was highlighted in the Times Educational Supplement, 16 September 2005 (No. 4652).

²To get an idea of the socio-economic status or class of each of the four schools, I looked at the percentages of pupils eligible for free school meals, compared the achievement levels in terms of five or more A* to C in the GCSE examinations and, most importantly, asked students in the survey to classify their parents’ occupations.