Researching the Politics of Everyday Life With Young People Using Creative Methods

Bowman, Benjamin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2866-1612 (2019) Researching the Politics of Everyday Life With Young People Using Creative Methods. In: SAGE Research Methods Cases in Political Science and International Relations. SAGE. ISBN 9781526462237

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Abstract

In this case study, I explore the ways youth, as a liminal, in-between space between childhood and adulthood, can be explored by researchers who want to know more about young people’s politics, that is, the ways young people construct their own politics, and political subjectivities, as they make transitions to adulthood. I argue that by using creative methods to explore young people’s everyday lives, researchers can empower young people’s expertise in their own lives. The primary goal of the method is to step beyond the question of engagement, which is the hegemonic approach to young politics of our time. This method intends to open the research site to young people’s politics in their words and on their terms. The method also encourages participants to subvert, transgress, and “remix” the method itself.