Sheila McArdle

Ph.D. Topic: A Youth-centred Exploration with Rural and Urban Zambian Youth Regarding Their Perceptions of Civic Engagement, Gender and Community

The recent revival in youth civic engagement (YCE) offers the promise of youth well-being and resilience for young people who participate, a strengthening of interpersonal networks and benefits for the community at large (Evans, 2005). But when exploring YCE, a complex interplay between political, economic, cultural and social factors begins to emerge.

Young people’s YCE experiences may significantly vary, especially in situations where barriers to participation exist and are exacerbated by gender, membership of an ethnic minority, living with a disability and residing in a post-conflict area. It is mooted that YCE interventions that are effective in one context, if applied elsewhere without critical consideration, can be culturally inappropriate and contribute to the perpetuation of inequality.

A participatory contextualisaton study with young people and adults regarding their perceptions of YCE in Zambia is currently being conducted. As a process it is hoped a holistic picture of how young people are facilitated to participate in existing civic engagement opportunities provided by communities in rural and urban contexts will emerge. The generated knowledge may inform policy and practice regarding the development of youth civic engagement interventions, which are culturally appropriate and promote resilience.

Selected Conferences

McArdle, S. (2011) Youth Civic Engagement the Promise of Democracy?. African Engagement: on whose Terms?. 4th European Conference on African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden, 15-18 June 2011.

McArdle, S. (2011) Youth Civic Engagement an Opportunity to Promote Equality? Global/Local Youth - New Civic Cultures, Rights and Responsibilities. The 11th Nordic Youth Research Symposium, University of Turku, Finland, 13-15 June 2011.