59
JOURNAL OF YOUTH RESEARCHES
To Be or Not To Be Political: An
Investigation of Active Youth
Citizenship Among Young, Educated
Syrians in Beirut to Question
International Development Discourse
Copyright © 2017
Republic of Turkey Ministry of Youth and Sports
/
Journal of Youth Researches • November 2017 • 5(13) • 59-76
ISSN 2147-8473
Received
| 25 September 2017
Accepted
| 09 October 2017
* PhD. Student, Universiteit Van Amsterdam,
Marieke Schöning*
Abstract
The international development sector confides in active young citizens around the globe to advance
society. Mainstream development discourse therefore tends to transport an affirmative vision of ac-
tive youth citizenship as individual obligation among highly educated youth. In the context of dis-
placement, however, the realms of citizenship become contested. This article investigates how and
why young, educated Syrians in Beirut engage in the refugee aid sector in Lebanon. By juxtaposing
the subjective interpretations of their engagements with international development discourse, the
study sheds light on substantive practices of active youth citizenship. The article draws on qualita-
tive empirical data collected in Beirut in early 2016.
The research reveals that the engagements constitute instances of active youth citizenship. The re-
spondents positioned themselves both as Syrian and global citizens, and understood their engage-
ments as civil commitment towards fellow Syrians as well as towards the idea of universal human
rights. It was striking that the engagements were still framed as apolitical, because ‘being political’
was assessed as either undesirable or thwarted within the local context. The depoliticising circum-
stances contradict what international development discourse purports, and jeopardise the efforts of
young Syrians. The article therefore concludes that the interdependent international interventions
towards the Syrian crisis disregard the potential that the legitimate gatekeeping role of young, edu-
cated Syrians bears for processes of reconciliation and inclusive development.
Keywords:
Syria; Forced Displacement, Youth Citizenship, Refugee Citizenship, Identity, Interna-
tional Aid, Youth And Peacebuilding, Inclusive Development.
ANALYS I S / RESEARCH
