Cycles of insecurities: Understanding the everyday politics of young Londoners

Abstract

The concept of everyday insecurity was developed to explain people's lived experiences in the wake of 9/11 and 7/7 and the perceived threat of terrorism. This article develops the concept to investigate the everyday insecurities experienced by young Londoners in the wake of the financial crisis and climate crisis. We employ innovative youth-centred methods to explore the issues that shape the everyday lives of young people in the UK capital. Through narrative analysis we represent the voices of young Londoners, identifying the role of identity, emotion, the attribution of responsibility and sense of agency in their discussions. We find young Londoners' narratives are dominated by “cycles of insecurity”: interconnected problems of housing, crime and so on, from which some feel it is almost impossible to escape. This helps explain why lack of efficacy and a sense of agency is a particular problem for younger generations. These experiences are more relevant than ever in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting the urgent need to integrate youth voice into Covid-recovery, to allow cities to generate a more sustainable public policy.