As the people of Northern Ireland inch towards greater understanding of each other’s culture, Quinton Mayne and Kate Devlin profile how the Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES) is offering young people the opportunity to achieve empowerment and to examine what culture means to them.
The world we inhabit is a world of categories. Categorization allows us to make sense of and position ourselves within the world. It is part and parcel of living one's life among other people, and although it is not of itself an evil, it has been the source of much pain and suffering.
Put most crudely, to understand categorization is to confront the issue of how differences arise and can be reconciled. In this instance, we are talking about socio-cultural meanings and how they are appropriated, perpetuated, and most importantly open to being changed by young people in Northern Ireland.
Giving young people the opportunity to define their own culture, rather than accept others idea of it, is a challenge to many ideas of culture in Northern Ireland.
During much of ‘the troubles’ an assumption was made that culture was static. It was something handed down, determined by such things as class, religion, family and part of the past that could not be affected by the present. This impacted on the way in which many viewed the situation in Northern Ireland. The problem in Northern Ireland was, the argument went, firstly, that there were two cultures (or communities), and secondly, that these cultures were in opposition.
Two cultures?
Questions of culture and identity are at the heart of everyday life in Northern Ireland. Countless studies show the salience of the Nationalist/Unionist or Catholic/Protestant binary opposition, as well as the all-encompassing nature of roles and informal rules that underpin daily interactions.
The Belfast or Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998, recognizes this and seeks to provide the tools with which these categories and diversity may be used positively. It is also seen by many as a tangible and meaningful embracing of multiculturalism whereby Northern Ireland is facing up to and tackling the complex and emotion-laden questions of justice and equality. There is a steadily growing recognition that Northern Ireland's socio-cultural categories are an asset rather than a burden; there is a movement away from the monolithic to the porous, permeable, and the plural.
YES attempts to take up this challenge, and create a space for young people, many of whom previously would not have had the opportunity to explore pluralism in our society.
Thus, one of the organisations main aims is to promote cultural diversity. This is achieved in two ways. Firstly, the young people come from a wide variety of socio-economic, religious, ethnic and educational backgrounds. Secondly, they are encouraged to discover and participate in other cultures. Young people are given the opportunity to engage with other young people from different cultures and workshops are held on diverse themes such as anti-bullying skills to creative expression through drama and movement.
Cultural diversity is not a threat to an individual’s culture, but rather the very essence of its survival and creativity.
Claude Levi—Strauss states that coming into contact with other cultures is always an act of discovering and re-discovering oneself. “The discovery of togetherness is the discovery of a relationship, not a barrier,” he wrote.
Social Inclusion
Categorisation can be seen as one of the prime factors for a lack of social inclusion in Northern Ireland. Young people in particular are often made to feel that there are activities that they are unable to participate in because of their cultural allegiances. This is reinforced by separate living and educational environments.
Whilst YES does not attempt to address every institutional hindrance towards young people’s potential, it can challenge many of the negative influences. Through YES, young people are encouraged to try new things, particularly from other cultures, and to participate in society.
Given that culture is part of the glue which holds society together, then the promotion of social inclusion allows for the building of ‘social capital’, which a key ingredient in providing cohesion between communities and helping them to cope with change, realise opportunities and overcome adversity.
Youth Empowerment
YES involves two types of youth participation. Firstly, the empowerment of the young participants offers them different experiences, the opportunity to express themselves and encouragement not to limit themselves to what others claim is appropriate for them to do.
The second group of young people empowered by the scheme is the mentors, all of whom are under 25.
YES was originally conceived by four University students from Northern Ireland taking part in the ‘Young Leaders’ internship programme in Washington, D.C. Inspired by the ‘Teamwork for Tomorrow’ project, set up by Notre Dame students, they decided to initiate a similar project in Northern Ireland.
By designing and running a scheme to help young people achieve their potential, mentors are required to consider and accept a joint responsibility for their society. YES believes that their actions, and those of the young participants, can positively affect society.
By promoting cultural diversity and social inclusion, YES strives to create a new approach to what culture means and how people in Northern Ireland choose to represent themselves.
It hopes to challenge the narratives which people have been asked to buy into for too long, which only partly describe the reality. For society to create these new narratives, the citizens (in this case young people) have to feel able to decide for themselves what their culture means to them.
To receive information on the activities of YES please email:
Chris@YouthEmpowermentScheme.org
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