Beyond voice: an agentic and agonistic perspective on youth citizenship in school

During the past two decades, citizenship education has become an educational priority across Europe and in the United States, in policy, practice and research alike. Often this educational priority is understood through the lens of education’s contribution to the process of youth becoming citizens. In this theoretical study, the aim is to contribute to a growing body of studies seeking to reconceptualise youth as not just becoming citizens, but as being citizens and doing citizenship. This reconceptualization impacts the way the role of schools in light of citizenship education can, and should, be understood. We combine insights from Dewey’s work on experiential learning and democracy as ‘a mode of associated living’ and Mouffe’s agonistic model of democracy to further develop the understanding of the relation between the school context and youth citizenship. As an example of the implications of the reconceptualization of youth citizenship, we explore its relation with ‘voice’ in school. We conclude by reflecting on the implications of this conceptualisation of youth citizenship for researchers, educational practitioners and policymakers.