To help bring the country together: Geographies of social cohesion and (in)formal education in the UK’s National Citizen Service
12:00pm - 1:00pm /
Tuesday 21st February 2017
/ Venue: Lecture Theatre 1 Gordon Stephenson Building
Type: Seminar /
Category: Department
- 0151 795 0619
- Jamie Hughes
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Sarah Mills, University of Loughborough - To help bring the country together”: Geographies of social cohesion and (in)formal education in the UK’s National Citizen Service [Power, Space and Cultural Change]
This paper explores debates on the geographies of social cohesion, mixing and encounter, specifically in relation to young people and informal citizenship training. It uses the example of ‘National Citizen Service’ – a youth programme operating in England and Northern Ireland – to raise critical questions about the wider politics of spaces of informal education and attempts by the state to ‘make’ citizens. The paper examines how ideas about community cohesion and social inclusion were part of the rationale for this growing scheme, targeted at 15-17 year olds and designed to foster a “more cohesive, responsible and engaged society”. Drawing on original ESRC-funded fieldwork with key architects, stakeholders and young people involved in the programme, the paper analyses the narratives of security that underlie NCS and its expansion, as well as exploring the idea of ‘social mix’ as one of NCS’ guiding principles. The discussion pushes deeper at the types of encounters encouraged – to bond with others, to mix with others, and to not judge others. Overall, the paper examines the relationship between ideas of ‘good citizenship’ and being a ‘good neighbour’, in the shifting and contested policy landscape of the ‘Big Society’.
This paper explores debates on the geographies of social cohesion, mixing and encounter, specifically in relation to young people and informal citizenship training. It uses the example of ‘National Citizen Service’ – a youth programme operating in England and Northern Ireland – to raise critical questions about the wider politics of spaces of informal education and attempts by the state to ‘make’ citizens. The paper examines how ideas about community cohesion and social inclusion were part of the rationale for this growing scheme, targeted at 15-17 year olds and designed to foster a “more cohesive, responsible and engaged society”. Drawing on original ESRC-funded fieldwork with key architects, stakeholders and young people involved in the programme, the paper analyses the narratives of security that underlie NCS and its expansion, as well as exploring the idea of ‘social mix’ as one of NCS’ guiding principles. The discussion pushes deeper at the types of encounters encouraged – to bond with others, to mix with others, and to not judge others. Overall, the paper examines the relationship between ideas of ‘good citizenship’ and being a ‘good neighbour’, in the shifting and contested policy landscape of the ‘Big Society’.