Introduction: Thinking globally, understanding locally

Abstract

In the introductory chapter to this volume, the editors reflect on the experience of conducting pan-European research (in 30 locations in 14 countries) into young people’s civic and political engagement as part of the MYPLACE (Memory, Youth, Political Legacy and Civic Engagement) project. They outline the central research questions and the rationale for the case study and mixed methods approach adopted in the MYPLACE project upon which the subsequent contributions to the volume draw. They consider the potential added explanatory value that can be derived from this approach, as well as the challenges it generates. They conclude that an integrated multi-method case study approach can allow researchers to ‘think globally’, while retaining the necessary sensitivity to local and national context to ‘understand locally’.