Where Technology, Youth, and Civics Meet: A Springboard for Understanding Civic Identity

Abstract

This chapter reviews the canon of literature that informs the research, starting with works that highlight the digitally mediated nature of society, particularly civic applications of technology. The author then turns to conceptualizations of young people from the psychological perspective of Erikson (1968) and sociological perspectives of Goffman (The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Doubleday Anchor Books, Garden City, NY, 1959; The Presentation of Self to Others. In J. G. Manis & B. N. Meltzer (Eds.), Symbolic Interaction: A Reader in Social Psychology, 3rd ed. Allyn and Bacon, London, pp. 234–244, 1978) and Schlenker (Self-identification: Toward an Integration of the Private and Public Self. In Public Self and Private Self, Springer, New York, pp. 21–62, 1986; Self-Presentation. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of Self and Identity, 2nd ed. Guilford Press, New York, pp. 542–570, 2012). These perspectives inform the theory of presentation of the self, the theory of identity that guides this study of young people in today’s world. The author then introduces the concept of civic identity, highlighting landmark research by Lister, Smith, Middleton, and Cox (Citizenship Studies, 7, 235–253, 2003; Young People Talking About Citizenship in Britain. In N. Kabeer (Ed.), Inclusive Citizenship: Meanings and Expressions, Zed Books, New York, pp. 114–131, 2005). She then discusses the ways in which civic engagement activities have become digitally mediated in contemporary society, which marks a time at which focus has turned to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The chapter demonstrates the ways in which the digital era and the civic sphere intersect for young people aged 14 through to 17, positioning the book within the wider literature in these disciplines.