Table Of ContentAdvancing Responsible Adolescent Development
Joan G. DeJaeghere
Jasmina Josić
Kate S. McCleary
Editors
Education and
Youth Agency
Qualitative Case Studies in
Global Contexts
Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development
Series Editor:
Roger J. R. Levesque
Department of Criminal Justice
Indiana University, Bloomington , IN, USA
More information about this series at h ttp://www.springer.com/series/7284
ć
Joan G. DeJaeghere • Jasmina Josi
Kate S. McCleary
Editors
Education and Youth Agency
Qualitative Case Studies in
Global Contexts
Editors
Joan G. DeJaeghere Jasmina Josić
University of Minnesota Pearson
Minneapolis , Minnesota , USA Mahwah , New Jersey , USA
Kate S. McCleary
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, Wisconsin , USA
ISSN 2195-089X ISSN 2195-0903 (electronic)
Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development
ISBN 978-3-319-33342-7 ISBN 978-3-319-33344-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-33344-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016946434
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
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The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland
We dedicate this book to Dominik, Noah,
Luka, Gabriela, and all young people who
have been part of our research and work.
Acknowledgements
T his volume is a testament to many collaborations among researchers in the
a cademy, program managers in foundations, and leaders and practitioners of non-
profi t and non-governmental organizations in efforts to understand and improve the
role of education in youth’s lives and futures. We owe our appreciation to The
MasterCard Foundation and CARE, USA, that funded some of this research and the
many other organizations that allowed us to be participants in their schools, institu-
tions, and communities. Each contributor worked very closely with different institu-
tions to carry out the research. We hope that the work we have done has helped you
and others to learn from the experiences of youth in new ways, and that we all have
a better understanding of the contributions made by such institutions and groups in
the lives of young people.
Within each organization, we got to know youth who opened their hearts and
minds and shared with us their lived experiences, their realities, and their desired
and imagined futures. Their thoughts and ideas are captured in each chapter, and we
thank and honor them for the knowledge and wisdom they shared with us.
The ideas and chapters for this volume came about over the past decade through
many conversations to conceptualize research studies and projects with graduate
students and colleagues of ours in and outside the academy; many of whom have
contributed chapters here, while others have furthered our thinking and understand-
ing on the the topic of youth agency. Our profound appreciation goes to all who
have engaged in these discussions in efforts to extend our knowledge and our prac-
tice. We are particularly grateful to colleagues from the University of Minnesota
who have shared their curiosity with us and pushed us to think in new ways. They
cannot all be named here, but we express a special thanks to Frances Vavrus, Peter
Demerath, Chris Johnstone, and David Chapman, who have shared in this journey
with us. Shirley Miske, Jenny Parkes, Emily Morris, and Leon Tikly have also
offered valuable insights on improving our chapter and this book. Thank you for
your critiques, collegial support, and friendship.
W e are extremely grateful to the contributors of this volume for exploring with
us diverse perspectives on the topic with such intellectual rigor. They engaged in a
vii
viii Acknowledgements
peer-review process that strengthened the contributions of each chapter and allowed
for collegial dialog across institutions.
W e are also thankful to the series editor, Roger J.R. Levesque, for his valuable
and timely feedback in shaping this volume, and Springer’s team, especially Judy
Jones and Michelle Tam, for support and assistance in the publication process. Our
appreciation also goes to Bharath Krishnamoorthy and his team of editors for their
attention to editorial details throughout the book.
We are indebted to our families for their understanding and support and for pro-
viding us space and time to complete this volume.
Contents
Conceptualizing Youth Agency ...................................................................... 1
Joan G. DeJaeghere , Kate S. McCleary , and Jasmina Josić
Part I Youth Agency and Community, Historical,
and Political Contexts
“You Are Building on Something”: Exploring Agency
and Belonging Among African American Young Adults ............................ 27
Beth Dierker
Community Context and Relations Conditioning United States
Youth’s Citizen Agency ................................................................................... 47
Jasmina Josić
Confronting “The Conditions” of Sénégalese
Higher Education: Reframing Representation and Activism ..................... 65
Casey Stafford
Part II Youth Agency and the Intersectionality of Gender,
Religion, and Class
Agency as Negotiation: Social Norms, Girls’ Schooling
and Marriage in Gujarat, India ..................................................................... 85
Payal P. Shah
Enactments of Youth Agency to Resist, Transgress,
and Undo Traditional Gender Norms in Honduras ..................................... 103
Kate S. McCleary
Exploring Boys’ Agency Towards Higher Education:
The Case of Urban Jamaica ........................................................................... 121
Shawanda Stockfelt
ix
Description:This book offers a comprehensive overview of studies on youth agency across various parts of the world. It explores diverse perspectives on education, citizenship and future livelihoods, modernity and tradition, gender equality, and social norms and transformations as they relate to how young people
