Young people and political engagement

Over a number of years, Ben Kisby has undertaken research on youth political engagement, with a particular focus on citizenship education and governmental attempts to enhance young people’s political knowledge and skills. Ben has published a number of journal articles, book chapters and a monograph in this area, with The Labour Party and Citizenship Education (MUP, 2012) examining the introduction of compulsory citizenship classes in secondary schools in England. More recently, Ben has been researching with Bradley Allsop how neo-liberal thought and policies have impacted on youth political engagement in the UK, and also whether there was a ‘youthquake’ in the 2017 general election in Britain. In addition, Ben has written a book with Lee Jerome at Middlesex University on The Rise of Character Education in Britain, which will be published by Palgrave in September 2019, and which challenges the individualistic and moralistic ideas underlying this form of education, arguing that citizenship education, properly conceived, is far more likely to strengthen British democracy.