De-marginalizing youngsters in public space: critical youth workers and local municipalities in the struggle over public space in Belgium

Abstract

ABSTRACTYoung people from lower income groups or with an immigrant background in public space are increasingly problematized in Belgium [Karsten, L., E. Kuiper, and H. Reubsaet. 2001. Van de straat? De relatie tussen jeugd en publieke ruimte verkend [Of the Street? Exploring the Relation between Youth and Public Space]. Assen: Van Gorcum; Rom, M., B. Vanobbergen, E. Coene, and N. Van Ceulebroeck. 2012. “Een reus op lemen voeten: GAS voor minderjarigen [A Giant with Feet of Clay: Municipal Administrative Sanctions for Minors].” In Jeugdwerk en sociale uitsluiting. Handvatten voor emanciperend jeugdbeleid [Youth Work and Social Exclusion. Tools for an Emancipating Youth Policy], edited by F. Coussée en L. Bradt, 61–72. Leuven: Acco.]. Building on the model of [Lavie-Ajayi, M., and M. Krumer-Nevo. 2013. “In a Different Mindset: Critical Youth Work with Marginalized Youth.” Children and Youth Services Review 35: 1698–1704. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.07.010], this paper discusses the variety of ways in which youth workers in five Flemish municipalities engage in strategic relational and narrative work with young people and actors in their institutional environment to develop alternative perspectives on young people in public space. Drawing on qualitative case studies, we identify critical youth workers’ successful and less successful strategies. Our study reveals how the possibilities for critical youth work to develop ‘counter-narratives’ and ‘loosen up’ public spaces in favor of young people [Tani, S. 2015. “Loosening/Tightening Spaces in the Geographies of Hanging Out.” Social & Cultural Geography 16 (2): 125–145. doi:10.1080/14649365.2014.952324], are circumscribed by the particular institutional embeddedness of youth workers, as well as by the depth and dimensionality of conflicts.