Rethinking Participation In A European Context

Rethinking the participation of young marginalised groups in a European context with an emphasis on Gypsy communities

Hugo Santos, University of Porto, PortugalNighet Riaz, University of the West of Scotland, ScotlandMigena Selcetaj, University of Bologna, ItalyMarta Carvalho, University of Porto, Portugal

The concept of the “margins”:

The concerns of Social and Human Sciences about marginalised groups and their trend in

emancipate the Other and give him/her voice;

A grammar of power, domination and inequality (e.g., Critical Theory of Frankfurt, Marxist

and Neomarxist Theories, Feminist and queer Theory, etc);

The role of citizenship in leveling unequal power relations (Marshall, 1950; Araújo, 2007)

the connections with participation (Menezes, 2010; Ferreira & Menezes, 2012);

The neutral gaze of Science and recent neoliberal ideas about entrepeneurship, individual

agency and positive narratives (e.g., participation of “young people”. But who are these

young people?).

Critics:

Oportunistic interests (economic, cultural, …) in Saving the Other (Spivak, 1989; Santos,

2013);

“Margins” as a metaphor for exclusion is a multidimensional concept: both stigmatising

and produtive (hooks, 1989; Foucault, 1999; Magalhães & Stoer, 2005; Neves, 2012).

Must we listen all voices or empower all groups? (e.g., Malcolm X and Le Pen).

Against essentialism: intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989; Puar, 2007;

Taylor, 2010).

Intersectionality: hybrid margins of a post-modern world;

Multiple identities and positions of subject (Butler, 1999; Hall, 2000);

The dangers of a single story (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie).

Examples of margins and multiple combinations:

Sex/Gender/Sexual orientation/Gender identity or expression;

Social Class/Social Status/Educational outcomes/Professional activity;

Ethnic belonging or expression/Skin colour/nationality;

Religion;

Disability (mental and/or physical);

Age;

Physical appearance

Gypsy identity

“Consider an analogy to traffic in an intersection, coming and going

in all four directions. Discrimination, like traffic through an

intersection, may flow in one direction, and it may flow in another. If

an accident happens in an intersection, it can be caused by cars

traveling from any number of directions and, sometimes, from all of

them (…) But it is not always easy to reconstruct an accident:

sometimes the skid marks and the injuries simply indicate that they

occurred simultaneously, frustrating efforts to determine which

driver caused the harm. In these cases the tendency seems to be

that no driver is held responsible, no treatment is administered, and

the involved parties simply get back in their cars and zoom away.”

(Crenshaw, 1989: 63).

Definition of civic participation

Montgomery, Gottlieb-Robles and Larson (2004) define civic engagement as any activity which is aimed at improving one’s community, whereas Banaji and Buckingham (2011, p22) discuss how during their study, they have had trouble pinning down the meaning of civic and how it is used interchangeably by other researchers with ‘political’ or ‘social’. Banaji (2008) raises the question of who defines the ‘common good’ and who then decides who is included or excluded from this definition.

Civic participation involves behaviour aimed at resolving problems of the community (Zukin, Keeter, Andolina, Jenkins, & Delli-Carpini, 2006), whereas political participation (both offline and online) refers to behaviour seeking to influence government action and policymaking (Verba, Schlozman, & Brady, 1995).

Definition of Youth Participation

Bakker and de Vreese (2011) discuss previous research carried out which describes the increasing detachment of younger people from politics, through the decline of political interest, dropping participation and low turnout at elections (Delli Carpini, 2000; Phelps, 2004; Pirie and Worcester, 2000).

How does this fit in with the gypsy traveller community?

Bhopal and Myers (2008,p109) found through their research that the gypsy travellers in the United Kingdom wanted to be accepted for who they were and not assimilation into the mainstream culture.Weeks argues thatThe strongest sense of community is in fact likely to come from those groups who find the premises of their collectives existence threatened and who construct out of this a community of identity which provides a strong sense of resistance and empowerment. Seemingly unable to control the social relations in which they find themselves, people, shrink the world to the size of their communities and act politically on that basis (200, p 240- 3)

The Scottish Context

The Roma Community in the Southside of Glasgow, Govanhill

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/govanhills-roma-residents-aim-to-be-part-of-the-solution-147511n.23114746

Gypsy Albanian Context• Roma in Albania are known by different names. In the north,

they are known as gypsies, magjyp in the south as jevge and the Southeast (Korce, etc.) as kurbatë and are also different hypotheses about their origin and ancestry.

• People who do not have any Gypsy or Traveller friends are more likely to use derogatory words against them compared to those who do. This emphasizes the importance of inter-group contact to lessen animosities against these groups.

Issues of Gypsy Community

• Poorer health status for the last year, were significantly more likely to have a long term illness, health problem or disability, which limits daily activities or ‐work, had more problems with mobility, self care, usual activities, pain or ‐discomfort

• Employment: As a result of poverty and social exclusion by formal labor market, Roma and Egyptians youth work in informal labor market, mainly in collecting of iron, in the trade of used clothes, occasional jobs, construction and begging.

• Education: They list a few reasons mainly related to poverty. Difficulty to buy books and school items, lack of suitable clothes, poor living conditions and lack of infrastructure, which should give contribution to the growth of household income, care for sisters and younger brothers, etc., are some of the main obstacles to the education of children.

• Cultural barriers: include gender roles, language and nomadic traditions.

• Rich in their social capital & Poor in structural capital

Participation as a right • The first declaration of rights was adopted by the

International Save the Children Union in Geneva in1923, and endorsed by the League of Nations General Assembly in 1924, as the World Child Welfare Charter.

• Article 12 states that children have the right to participate in decision making processes relevant to their lives and to influence decisions taken in their regard, especially in schools or communities.

• In addition, Article 15 states that children have the right to create and join associations and to assemble peacefully.

Models of participationTriangular dimensions of youth participation(Marc Jans and Kurt de Backer)

Hart’s Ladder of Participation depicts participation on a continuum, from manipulation and tokenism.

Models of participation

Shier’s model seeks to clarify this by identifying three stages of commitment at each level: openings, opportunities and obligations.

Obstacles to ParticipationBernstein (1996) says that there are “conditions for an

effective democracy. […] People must feel that they have a stake in society. […] By stake I mean that not only are people concerned to receive something but that they are also concerned to give something” (p. 6).

However, when they are in a situation of social exclusion, such participation becomes compromised, once the primary systems of socialization and redistribution of knowledge and resources ultimately fail in giving the adequate response to their social needs.

Taking this in mind, urges the need to (re)consider ways of involving young people whose expression of citizenship, for

some reason, is compromised.

Increasing the participation of marginalized groups: the “Online” potential

“The online sphere does not only offer individuals the possibility to engage in traditional forms of political participation, but it also allows individuals to engage in forms of political activity that were previously not available” (Vissers & Stolle, 2012: 2).

These authors talk about Social Network Sites (SNS), making emphasis on Facebook , as influent and important tools for new forms of political and civic participation. "Liking” or “joining” pages, “sharing” images, news, opinions or “status”, are also ways of participation. These actions are not only new and easier ways to engage in social and civic issues, as they are also low-cost activities compared to other more traditional participation forms.

Simple

InteractiveLow-cost

The “democratic potential of Internet:

Why is Facebook a possible tool of mobilization for political and civic participation?

According to Vissers & Stolle, because:

• Of its “ubiquity” (id: 3);• it “is a communication medium that holds a huge potential for

interactivity and interconnectivity” (id: 4); • it “has the potential to make political information more readily

available, particularly for those who do not necessarily seek it[;] • (…) allows individuals to communicate independent from time

and place, whether in real-time or under the form of ‘delayed’ or asymmetrical communication” (id: 5);

• it “holds new potential to foster political engagement by lowering the barriers for political participation” (id: 5).

Why is this relevant to increase participation among young gypsies in a social exclusion situation?• It has the potential to include new groups into the political process

by lowering the threshold for individuals who were previously less inclined toward traditional participation activities.

• The access to this new media device, for participation and social activism purposes, could provide the necessary motivation for young people to be social and politically informed and foster in them the will to participate actively in their society.

Reflections• This would increase respect for diversity and increase awareness of

students of different ethnic groups associated with each culture. Meanwhile, strengthening the cultural identity of Roma students / Egyptian school would make it much more friendly.

• Consequently educational policies should aim to train and qualify teachers to work in multicultural classrooms, to recognize cultural values of other ethnic groups, to recognize the needs of marginalized groups and be able to treat all students equally.

• It was also clear that lack of education about Travellers, Gypsies and Roma communities was contributing to the deficient knowledge and understanding about these groups, their culture and traditions.

• School can be an important mediator in raising awareness to the different possibilities of social engagement, including the sensibilization for the potential of the Internet for civic and political participation.

Thank you