The interplay between life trajectories and participation careers

Complementary to the analysis of collective youth cultural styles, this chapter aims to understanding better how young people’s individual careers of participation evolve from getting involved to staying or changing involvement. A ‘cross-cluster’ reflection along the categories elaborated for the analysis can highlight the interplay between sociocultural and economic conditions, forms of participation and learning processes. The chapter presents a biographical perspective, trying to shed light on the close relationship between participation and social background and thus elaborating the links between social inequalities and political and civil engagement. While the level of education clearly orientates young people’s life trajectories, the influence of different youth transition regimes needs to be taken into account inasmuch as young people’s trajectories are institutionalised in different ways. The chapter analyses the learning processes they attribute to participatory experiences both in terms of personal/individual development and a contribution to community/societal change. It illustrates theoretical rationale for the analysis and sets out the methodology and methods used.