Young people and citizenship in rural Estonia: An everyday perspective

Abstract

This chapter discusses young people’s citizenship experiences and learning in rural Estonia. The focus is on the key everyday relations and contexts – home, school, and leisure places – where citizenship is situated. The authors argue that such different contexts provide different opportunities for acting and being and thus different opportunities for participation and citizenship learning. The age group in focus is young people between 15 and 19. This age group is of particular interest in political studies as a group close to accessing most formal (adult) political processes (18 years for many countries) and therefore a target of enhanced political awareness campaigns (such as civics education). The chapter concludes with a discussion on the relevance of recognizing young people’s everyday engagement.