Skip to main content
Rebordering Britain & Britons after Brexit

Marginalized (non)citizens: migrant youth political engagement, volunteering and performative citizenship in the context of Brexit

Abstract

Migrants' opportunities for civic and political participation are often restricted by their legal rights. This paper reports on a study which included a survey with 1,120 young people aged 12-18 originally from Central and Eastern Europe, living in the UK, and follow-up focus groups with 122 participants. We examine young people's views on political and non-political participation and their engagement in everyday performative citizenship. We found connections between civic participation and political participation, and both are conditioned by one's sense of belonging to place and recognition of individual agency. Young people were interested and wanted to be involved in politics, yet they did not feel they could shape political decisions, unlike other forms of participation, such as volunteering and social activism. The study progresses existing knowledge on young people's exclusions from everyday performative citizenship, in the context of current public debates on youth engagement and young migrants' integration.

You might also be interested in :

New Scots? Eastern European Young People's Feelings of Belonging and National Identity in Scotland Post-Brexit
This article examines the impact of Brexit on young people aged 12-18 who had moved to Scotland from Central and Eastern Europe. It draws on empirical data collected with over 250 young people who contributed to an online survey and focus groups between 2016-2018…
Young Europeans in Brexit Britain: Unsettling identities
Since the 2016 European Union referendum, young European migrants living in Britain have faced growing exposure to social exclusion and insecurities over their future. The Brexit process has not only changed their rights but has also increased their experiences of xenophobia and discrimination.
Performing whiteness: Central and Eastern European young people's experiences of xenophobia and racialisation in the UK post-Brexit
The state-induced anti-immigration environment and the normalisation of xenophobia in political and media discourses have led to the increased othering of European migrants in the UK through new forms of social stratification, especially since the Brexit Referendum of 2016.
Marginalized (non)citizens: migrant youth political engagement, volunteering and performative citizenship in the context of Brexit
Migrants' opportunities for civic and political participation are often restricted by their legal rights. This paper reports on a study which included a survey with 1,120 young people aged 12-18 originally from Central and Eastern Europe, living in the UK…

Journal

ETHNIC AND RACIAL STUDIES

Authors

Daniela Sime (United Kingdom)
Silvia Behrens (United Kingdom)

Article meta

Country / region covered

Population studied

Year of Publication

Source type