Commemorative and Civic Participation in the 21st century: a Comparison across Generations and Ethnic Origin

• In Event: 032 - Section on Children and Youth Paper Session. Civic Participation among Minority and Immigrant Youth

Abstract

Over the past decade, many countries have introduced national history and commemorative rituals as a way to enhance civic participation and social integration. What is missing is empirical research on whether participation in national commemorations and celebrations is actually associated with activities such as volunteering or voting. Using two recent datasets from the Netherlands, this study examines patterns of commemorative and civic participation amongst different generations (N = 2,993), as well as amongst adolescents of various ethnic origins (N = 3,824). Although preliminary, our findings indicate that later generations – in particular those from non-native Dutch origin - are less actively involved in commemorative and civic activities than earlier generations. Moreover, later generations report a stronger association between commemorating and voting, which is at least partially explained by the closer connection between commemorating and post-materialistic values. The relationship between commemorating and volunteering is stronger for earlier generations. Finally, adolescents from non-western origin report stronger associations between commemorating, voting, and volunteering than native Dutch adolescents. This is explained for a large part by the close connection between commemorating and national belonging amongst this group. These findings suggest that the extent to which commemorative participation is associated with civic participation depends not only upon generational status and ethnic origin, but also upon type of activities. Additionally, these results highlight that more attention should be paid to possible explanations of patterns of commemorative and civic participation, especially amongst later generations.

Authors

• Manja Coopmans, Utrecht University

• Duane F. Alwin, Pennsylvania State Univ.