Citation

Kallio KP. Geogr. Rev. 2018; 108(4): 566-591.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, American Geographical Society)

DOI

10.1111/gere.12266

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Public attitudes continue to portray youths in Western societies as being passive and disengaged. Critical scholars are largely unanimous in that the misrecognition of and disrespect for young people's everyday experiences and activities form a major reason why they appear detached from politics and public life. Contributing to this debate, this paper traces the everyday experiences of some Finnish urban youths, and argues that their lived worlds differ notably from the worlds of the public administration that seeks to address youths as active citizens. Based on these findings, the paper proposes the pragmatically oriented concepts of "issue publics" and "topological connectives" for rethinking youth participation and democratic life more broadly.

Language: en

Keywords

children's geography; hobbies and fandom; lifeworld; mundane politics; sports; youth inclusion