Stuck in the Margins? Young people and faith-based organisations in South African and Nordic localities Band 31

Title Page Copyright Table of Contents Acknowledgements List of Figures and Tables Ignatius Swart, Auli Vähäkangas, Marlize Rabe, Annette Leis-Peters | Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background to the Book 1.2 Planning and Conducting the Research 1.3 Conceptual Demarcation 1.4 Distinctive Features of the Book 1.5 Structure of the Book Part I Contexts and Concepts Ignatius Swart, Bjørn Hallstein Holte, Heikki Hiilamo | Chapter 2: NEET as a Comparative Conceptualisation of Youth Marginalisation. A South African–Nordic European Exchange of Perspectives 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Conceptual Evolution in the UK and Continental Europe 2.3 NEET as a Phenomenon in the Nordic Countries 2.4 NEET as a Discourse in the Nordic Countries 2.5 NEET as a Phenomenon in South Africa 2.6 NEET as a Discourse in South Africa 2.7 Conclusion Bjørn Hallstein Holte, Marlize Rabe | Chapter 3: Statistical Snapshots. Contextualising the Lives of Youths in South Africa and the Nordic Countries 3.1 Introduction 3.2 General Social and Economic Indicators 3.3 Welfare, Health and Security 3.4 Youth Employment and Education 3.5 Religious Affiliation, Identity and Participation 3.6 Conclusion Olav Helge Angell, Stephan de Beer | Chapter 4: Social Cohesion. Critical Theoretical Exploration of a Concept 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The Concept of Social Cohesion 4.2.1 Roots of the Social Science Discourse on Social Cohesion 4.2.2 The Political Discourse on Social Cohesion 4.2.3 Interdependence of Social Science and Political Discourses on Social Cohesion 4.2.4 Social Cohesion – Preliminary Definition and Operationalisation 4.3 Social Cohesion at Different Levels of Society 4.3.1 The Neighbourhood 4.3.2 The City 4.3.3 The National Level 4.3.4 Social Cohesion and the Role of the State 4.4 Related Concepts 4.5 Conclusion: Approaching and Operationalising Social Cohesion Auli Vähäkangas, Elina Hankela, Elisabet le Roux, Eddie Orsmond | Chapter 5: Faith-Based Organisations and Organised Religion in South Africa and the Nordic Countries 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The Term Faith-Based Organisation 5.3 FBOs in the Context of Development and Civil Society 5.4 Roles of FBOs in Local Communities 5.5 The Religious Context of FBOs: Religion and Religious Affiliation 5.6 Religion in South Africa 5.7 Religion in the Nordic Countries 5.8 Conclusion Part II Case Study Perspectives Ignatius Swart, Marlize Rabe, Stephan de Beer | Chapter 6: “Eish! It is Tough Living Here”. Marginalised Young People and Faith-Based Organisations in Pretoria Central 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Young People in Pretoria Central 6.3 FBOs in a Context of Far-Reaching Religious Change 6.4 Methodology and Profile of Research Participants 6.5 A Place of Hardship: Between Hope and Despair in Pretoria Central 6.6 Perceptions and Expectations of FBOs amid Experiences of Hardship 6.7 FBOs Meeting Basic Survival Needs 6.8 Conclusion Bjørn Hallstein Holte, Annette Leis-Peters, Olav Helge Angell, Kari Karsrud Korslien | Chapter 7: Us and Them. Faith-Based Organisations and Street Youths in Søndre Nordstrand 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Søndre Nordstrand 7.3 Methods and Data Used in the Case Study 7.4 What Young People Want 7.5 What FBOs Provide for the Youths 7.6 How FBOs Recruit Youths 7.7 How the FBOs Relate to Street Youths 7.8 Why FBOs Engage with Youths 7.9 Conclusion Elina Hankela, Reggie Nel | Chapter 8: “Keep Yourself Busy”. Young People, Faith-Based Organisations and Social Cohesion in Riverlea 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Data and Methods 8.3 From Forced Removals to a Low-Income Post-Apartheid Neighbourhood 8.4 Young People on Challenges in Riverlea 8.5 Brought Up in a Church 8.6 Churches as Alternative Spaces 8.7 Moral Norms in the Construction of Belonging and Exclusion 8.8 Family and Church as Support Structures 8.9 Conclusion Eddie Orsmond, Anita Cloete, Elisabet le Roux, Zahraa McDonald | Chapter 9: A Story of Continued Separateness. NEET Young People and Faith-Based Organisations in Franschhoek 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Franschhoek in a Nutshell 9.3 Doing Fieldwork in Franschhoek 9.4 Young People’s Separatedness in Franschhoek 9.4.1 Factors Impeding Young People’s Limited Education and Employment Opportunities 9.4.2 Absent Fathers, Male Absenteeism and Dysfunctional Family Structures 9.4.3 Isolation 9.4.4 Faith-Based Organisations: Common but not Cohesive 9.5 Conclusion Christina Landman, Hannelie Yates | Chapter 10: “Do the FBOs Know Where They Are Going?” Listening to the Voices of Rural Youth in the Emakhazeni Local Municipality 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Rural Emakhazeni: Parameters and Process of the Case Study 10.2.1 Locality, Education Facilities and Employment Opportunities 10.2.2 Challenges Related to the Youth 10.2.3 Religious Context 10.2.4 Method 10.3 Voices of the Young People on Marginalisation 10.3.1 No Hope, Opportunity or Agency 10.3.2 No Respect from Formal Institutions 10.3.3 No Alternatives to Drugs and Meaningless Sex 10.3.4 Lack of Role Models 10.4 Youths’ Expectations of FBOs 10.4.1 FBOs to Offer Hope 10.4.2 FBOs to Teach the Youths to Show and Receive Respect 10.4.3 FBOs to Control Drugs and Sex through Moral Education 10.5 Responses from FBO Leaders 10.6 Conclusion Auli Vähäkangas, Anna Juntunen, Elina Juntunen, Johanna Vilja-Mantere, Ulla Siirto | Chapter 11: The Church at the Centre of Community? Young People’s Experiences of Social Cohesion in Lammi 11.1 Introduction 11.2 A Rural Community with Strong Identity and Traditions 11.3 Method and Data Collection 11.4 Young People’s Experiences of Communality 11.5 Experiences of the ELCF 11.6 Critical Attitudes towards the ELCF 11.7 Active Participation in the Faith Communities 11.8 Tolerance and Diversity 11.9 Conclusion Part III Discussions and Conclusions Marlize Rabe, Bjørn Hallstein Holte, Zahraa McDonald, Olav Helge Angell, Ulla Siirto | Chapter 12: Youth at the Margins. Reflections on Diversities and Similarities Using Intersectionality as a Lens 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Intersectionality as a Heuristic Tool 12.3 Religious Affiliation as a Node of Intersecting Experience 12.4 Gendered Experiences through an Intersectional Lens 12.5 Location, Location, Location 12.6 Intersectional Reflections on the Researchers 12.7 Conclusion Annette Leis-Peters, Ignatius Swart, Anita Cloete, Per Pettersson | Chapter 13: A Common Spatial Scene? Young People and Faith-Based Organisations at the Margins 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Using Space and Place as Heuristic Lens 13.3 Six Spaces of Youth Marginalisation 13.4 Understanding Marginalisation through Spatial Lenses 13.4.1 Spatial Expanses without Hope and Possibilities 13.4.2 Places of Hope and Meaning 13.5 Spaces of Confinement Restraining Agency 13.6 Concluding Reflection: Meaning Within and Beyond Confined Spaces Auli Vähäkangas, Stephan de Beer, Elina Hankela, Annette Leis-Peters | Chapter 14: Whose Cohesion? What Cohesion? Liberative Theological Reflection on Young People and Faith-Based Organisations 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Liberative Theological Lens on Social Cohesion and Conviviality 14.3 Reflection on the Research Process 14.3.1 Interlocution, Power and Representation 14.3.2 Young People’s Views and a Liberative Approach: Aligned or Not? 14.4 Liberative Theological Perspectives on the Roles of FBOs and the Youth in Imagining Social Cohesion 14.5 Examining Cohesion through the Lens of Conviviality 14.6 Concluding Remarks on Multiple Margins Bibliography Appendix 1: YOMA Interview Guide for Individual Interviews with Young People Appendix 2: YOMA Interview Guide for Interviews with Focus Groups Appendix 3: YOMA Project Research Output Since 2013 Notes on the Editors and Contributors Index Body "This book is the product of a South African - Nordic research collaboration that wanted to gain deeper insight into the role that faith-based organizations (FBOs) play in the lives of young people eking out a living from the margins of society. The book as such distinguishes itself as a first major international scholarly endeavor to explore the contemporary phenomenon of youth marginalization from a concerted interdisciplinary faith-based organizational interest. While the exploration of concepts such as NEET (an acronym for young people not in education, employment or training), social cohesion and FBOs constitutes an important point of departure, the book's essential contribution lies in the empirical work undertaken. In six case studies, conducted respectively in locations in South Africa, Finland and Norway, the authors make a deliberate attempt to give a voice to the young people with whom interviews were conducted. The result is a scholarly work that in its discussions and conclusions is both critical and appreciative of the involvement of FBOs in the lives of marginalized youths but also the research achievement itself. Perspectives that recognize the meaningful presence of FBOs in the lives and lived religion of many young people at the margins are presented, while authors do not shy away either from highlighting the shortcomings of FBOs to work more purposefully with young people in overcoming the conditions conducive to their marginalization. Ultimately, however, this book does not confine itself to a critical perspective on FBOs alone but through the contribution of some of its authors present illuminating insight into what may still be required from the point of view of academic research to participate in larger liberative practices involving young people but also FBOs at the margins of society." --Provided by publisher The articles in this volume represent a first major international scholarly endeavor to explore the contemporary phenomenon of youth marginalization from a concerted interdisciplinary faith-based organizational interest. At the center of the discussions are the perspectives and experiences of young people from different localities in South Africa, Finland and Norway. The result is a scholarly work that is both appreciative and critical of the involvement of faith-based organizations in the lives of marginalized youths but also the research achievement itself