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To Be or Not To Be Political: An Investigation of Active Youth Citizenship Among Young, Educated Syrians in Beirut to Question International Development Discourse
JOURNAL OF YOUTH RESEARCHES
The respondents evaluated their engagements as beneficial for themselves on a pro-
fessional and personal level: NGO jobs allowed some interviewees to make an income
despite the dramatic youth unemployment rates in Lebanon. Mostly unpaid, their en-
gagements nevertheless enabled respondents to employ their skills and enhance their
curriculum vitae with work experience. The engagement was perceived as a possibility to
‘be useful’ at a time when other professional and educational alleys were put on hold. In
addition, networks were built through engaging, which was valued as potentially helpful
for future professional ambitions. In terms of personal development, respondents ex-
pressed how their voluntary engagement enhanced their psychological wellbeing and
had energising effects in a situation, when many of them struggled with feelings of de-
pression seeing their future in limbo.
That said, regarding the question if the engagements could be a form of active youth
citizenship, it proved as especially insightful to consider that interviewees were motivated
by two forms of citizen identification and felt the obligation to act upon these: Firstly, re-
spondents expressed strong feelings of belonging and connection towards fellow Syrian
citizens, caused by the uprisings in 2011 and their repercussions. Chalil’s answer to one
interview question stands as an example for the general finding that all respondents ex-
pressed to be motivated to engage in the aid sector by feelings of personal connection to
other Syrians, based on their common origin, culture, and language:
Interviewer: “Why did you want to do something when you came? What was your
main motivation?
Chalil: Because they are my people. They are Syrian people that I help. It’s my duty
actually to do something, not sit aside.”
Moreover, the importance of contributing to long-term reconciliation among Syrians was
emphasised. The interviews demonstrated that the respondents recognised their individ-
ual potential to positively influence how Syrians interacted with each other and to foster
peacebuilding processes through their engagements.
This first strand of citizen identification as a Syrian whose duty it is to help other Syrians
was complemented by a second strand of motivation, grounded in broader humanitarian
ideals that demand to help ‘all human beings’. The interviewees stated to endorse the
ideals of human rights and general solidarity with all those in need. The duality of these
two layers of identity construction shows in the following quote:
Interviewer: “And is it also a motivation for you to continue the project because you
are Syrian?
Aboud: It’s not the main motivation, but yeah, of course. It’s one of the motivations.
Like, if someone came to me now and said, what’s your motivation to do this, I
