On youth participation and adult manipulation: Exploring the lowest rung of Hart’s ladder in a youth organization

Abstract

The study explored the intersection of youth participation in collective decision-making and adult manipulation. To explore this intersection, we use a case study of youth participation in a conflict regarding one youth organization splitting off from another. The findings showed that the manipulated participation had social, cognitive, and discursive facets. These multiple facets resulted in intense youth engagement in the conflict, which may blur the boundary between high-level participation and manipulation. The intersection of participation and manipulation is particularly relevant to youth organizations with strong participation ethos, which paradoxically may be fertile ground for the emergence of manipulated participation.