Youth Culture and Citizenship in Multicultural Britain

Abstract

Across Europe and the western world debates on multiculturalism are shaping national and local policies on citizenship. How to reconcile the tensions between minority rights, cultural difference and the universal notion of citizenship in different nation states has become a central focus when considering how the inclusion of ethnic minority groups is being managed. At the heart of these discussions are concerns about the young and the processes of their inclusion as present and future citizens. In this paper we discuss how citizenship for young people from different ethnic groups is understood and constructed as a ‘problem’ in the UK, showing how issues of injustice, lack of recognition and problems of self-determination impact on feelings of membership and belonging. In the final section we discuss possible policy solutions and ways forward.