170 relation to these themes that the extent of the influence of neoliberal discourses is
more visible. Nonetheless, and however brief these accounts may be, they offer a glimpse of some of the ways that a cross-sectional sample of LA and London
young people think about democracy, and how this reflects their dispositions and values.
5.5 Triggers of Politicization
Before concluding, it is worth briefly identifying some of the initial triggers for the politicization of these young people in order to shed some light on the
types of influences and experiences that may have fed into the development of their sophisticated political views. Of particular note in the following extracts is
the variability of the political influences on these young people.
Rudy: Why are you studying these subjects [politics and art]?
Aimee: [….] I was very political before I chose to study politics and it kind of
seemed like a logical thing to do. Rudy:
What, I guess since you brought it up, what brought you into politics, why are you drawn to it from such an early age especially?
Aimee: Um, I think it was obviously like a mixture of factors, so I’m not
entirely sure. But one of the things, one of my best friends in secondary school was like a lot older than me and identified as a
Marxist. So I learned quite a lot through her. And also because I’ve gone to primary school in a very, very middle class area, and moved
to a very working-class secondary school when I was eleven, and it was like a massive culture shock. And I guess I just started thinking a
lot more about, like issues of class and race then, because as a way of processing, and because I have a tendency to over think everything,
that was just my response to it.
Rudy: Oh, so the move from a different class section sort of like -
Aimee: Yeah.
Rudy: Made you analyze things differently -
Aimee: Yeah.
Rudy: In addition to your friend introducing you to -
Aimee: Yeah, I met her at the secondary school. Islington participant
Rudy: What are some of the things in the world that you care about the
most? Luz:
A lot of things, the environment, animals, […] just happiness in general, you know freedom of expression, just freedom.
Rudy: Where do you think you got these [ideals] from?
Luz: Um, well I guess from growing up the way I did and from hanging
out with the people I did, and spending time with these people. Yeah
171 just developing my own views on things, as a response to my
environment. South-Central LA participant Rudy:
How is it that at such an early age you are so community oriented, what is it that moved you to do this type of work?
Senai: I come from a background where
I’ve only gone to schools with only one Asian and like one African American in my whole life in middle-
school and elementary. And lived around a lot of Latinos, and a lot of Latinos and they’re oppressed in this community. My father has
suffered from police brutality and I have family members who have been caught crossing the border. I have [family] members that have
died [..] in the Guatemalan civil war. […] And then they [Latino immigrants] come to this damn country and are [asked to leave], and
it’s just so sad, like I have so much passion towards helping my community. [..] But yeah I guess it’s the oppression of my people is
what’s given me the anger which I turn into passion to be helping them out. World Vision participant
Rudy: Where do you think you got your political positions from?
Joey: I have no idea. It’s somewhat of a collective thing. My sources are
very wide and very scattered. Rudy:
Can you think of any dominant sources? Joey:
Well I think 10
th
grade history. Like I never really gave history a care in the world, but then 10th grade with Ms. Gotlieb when I was taking
world history, and like I was like really high the whole second semester, and it seemed so much more intense, and it really go me to
want to do something. Zoo participant
The early age of these young people’s politicization is noticeable. Their accounts indicate that they became politicized between the ages of 11-14. While
this observation broadly coincides with the developmental literature on political attitudes which finds that political positions and attitudes begin to from and
crystallize around adolescence Eckstein et al., 2011, a more substantial finding is that, even at this early age, these young people seemingly possessed intellectual
capabilities to form initial understandings of quite complex subject matter. Note for example, the following accounts by James and Sam:
Rudy: So do you think that your political awareness, your political beliefs
were influenced by your parents in any way. James:
My actual and specific views not at all. By my engagement probably has to do a lot with my mom. I mean I started looking into the
Socialist Workers Party when I was eleven.
Rudy: So you mom introduced you to?
172 James:
No she didn’t but she was quite active and she knew about things. So there was this protest outside a hospital and there were these placards
‘Nurses Not Bombs’. So I went down to it and I got grabbed by some of the Socialist Workers and I got recruited so to speak. [..] But yeah I
went to few of their meetings and demonstrations when I was quite young.
52
Islington participant Rudy:
This might not be a fair question, but can you like think of any particular experience that sort of turned you on to it [socialism]?
Sam: Um, I’d say that I probably got radicalized in that respect around the
time of the student protest last year. That’s when I got more drawn towards the kind of more radical end of the leftist spectrum, I was a
fairly radical Keynesian for a while, but then I got kind of got involved in more ultra-leftist politics and I found that they quite
suited my beliefs.
53
Islington participant Additionally, while Ben, Anthony, and Jazmin cited their parents as their initial
political influences, the rest of these young people who cited a plethora of different initial influences, also stated that their political views were markedly
different from that of their parents. This is in keeping with Flanagan’s 2008 claim that young people rarely reflect the same exact political positions as their
parents despite parents usual status as primary agents of socialization. One of my original objectives for this research had been to find out if there
were any common experiences or modes that led young people to develop a more heighted political awareness. For a number of reasons, which include too small a
sample size and other methodological limitations that I describe in section 9.2, I did not find any. However, while there is little that can be generalized from these
young people’s politicizing experiences, they nonetheless reinforce the point that even a kernel of exposure to critical perspectives, irrespective of the setting,
medium, or timing, can have both a catalyzing and lasting effect on the development of young people’s political views and practices.
5.6 Potential Future Political Trajectories and Concluding Remarks
