Roots of Civic Identity: International Perspectives on Community Service and Activism in Youth

Miranda Yates and James Youniss have brought together an international collection of essays that describe the state of community participation among the world’s youth. Authors from around the globe use empirical data to present portraits of youth constructing their civic identities through such means as community service. Youth seek to resolve ideological tensions, such as in Northern Ireland and Palestine; to overcome corrupting political practices, such as in Italy and Taiwan; to deal with disillusionment, such as in Palestine and the emerging Eastern European nations; and to bridge barriers against youth’s meaningful participation in the working of society, such as in Canada and Japan. Special conditions, such as the diminution of the welfare state, for instance, in former West Germany, and the rapid turn towards democracy in former East Germany offer insight into the process through which youth try to establish meaningful person-state relationships.