LIBERAL ARTS

EDUCATED
CITIZEN:
YOUTH POLITICS
RECALIBRATED?

W W W . L I B E R A L A R T S C I T I Z E N S
H I P .
W O R D P R E S S . C O M

YI’EN CHENG
YA L E - N U S C O L L E G E , S I N G A P O R E
Funded by Yale-NUS College Internal Grant
RESEARCH QUESTION

How are young people’s citizenship subjectivities and acts being informed and
re-shaped in/through contemporary liberal arts education in Asia?

Presentation provides overview of two key aspects of research findings:

- The dominant project of liberal arts education in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore,
with respect to how civic ideals are configured into the liberal arts education paradigm.

- Case of Lingnan University: how liberal arts education affords students a space to
practise citizenship, including their experiments with political inclinations and activities
LIBERAL ARTS IN ASIAN CITIES

• Liberal arts education is increasingly making a presence in Asian HE landscape; manifest in diverse forms
ranging from new programmes and revamped curricula to satellite campuses and international
partnerships (Godwin, 2015; Jung, Nishimura, & Sasao, 2016; Lewis & Rupp, 2015).

• north American conception of liberal education defined as “an approach to learning that empowers
individuals and prepares them to deal with complexity, diversity, and change” (AACU, 2018, np); a
collegiate model, which places emphasis on learning communities, freedom of speech and intellectual
debates, and moral-character formation.

• Extant writings about Asian liberal arts initiatives underline a global context of increasing recognition that
university graduate citizens require critical thinking and more broad-based, flexible competencies in the
21st-century knowledge economy (Altbach, 2015; Postiglione, 2016). Higher education within Asian cities
play an exceptionally crucial role in producing these graduates (Levin, 2010); resulting legacy is the
development of large cities as home to large research national universities but, also more recently, new
educational collaborations and satellite campuses (Olds, 2007; Collins, 2014; Ho, 2014).
THE ‘LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATED CITIZEN’

“The unique institutional context of liberal arts colleges that emphasises freedom of speech,
critical discourse, civic minded-ness and social engagement is bringing about new ideas of
what young people can and ought to become as citizens in Asian education landscapes, with
potential for shifting wider societal consciousness.
But whether liberal arts educated youths can fully realise the promises of such citizenship
discourses remains a question that requires attention to localised contestations and
reworkings, which very often reveal ambiguities in the contours of citizenship. “ (Cheng,
2018, n.a.)

Cheng,YE (2018) Liberal arts educated citizen: Experimentation, subjectification and ambiguous contours of youth citizenship, Area
(forthcoming) Special Issue on Geographies of Citizenship in Higher Education: Students as Agents of Change?
MOTIVATIONS OF THIS PAPER …
• “urban youth politics” not so much through the lens of galvanized social action and activist
movements (esp. among students), which has been thrown into spotlight in recent
media/academic discussion (Sukarieh and Tannock, 2014; Bayat, 2016; )

• disrupt “exceptional” or “spectacular” image of youth politics

• recast it as a question about the “unspectacular”:

- how are young people channeling energies towards enacting change to/from the spaces they
inhabit on a day to day basis, and
- But also how t these energies and actions might be mediated by
(i) geo-economic and geo-political contexts,
(ii) institutional agendas, and
(iii) social relationships through which the “political” and “youthfulness” is understood by
individuals
HOW ARE YOUNG PEOPLE’S CITIZENSHIP SUBJECTIVITIES AND ACTS
BEING INFORMED AND RE -SHAPED IN/THROUGH CONTEMPORARY LIBERAL
ARTS EDUCATION IN ASIA?

• This paper is therefore concerned with:

- ways in which young people are socialized into, learn about, and practise new forms of
engagements with the (urban) worlds

- examined through a range of narratives and practices surrounding “community

engagement”, “service to community”, and “making a difference” (we see these across
all case studies)

- ‘citizenship’ as a conceptual lens to explore youth politics ‘in and of the urban’ as a set
of diverse – sometimes sporadic – ordinary political doings in which students define
themselves as and become youthful urban participants striving to create change;
RESEARCH METHODS
(i) in-depth interviews, with students and
faculty/staff;
(ii) ethnographic observations, of campus
environment and materialities;
(iii) documentary research, on institutional
histories, curricular structures, and extra-
curricular programs.

Breakdown of students interviewed

Lingnan:
10 international (all South and East Asian, except
one Russian); 17 domestic (one of which is HK
resident of Filipino nationality)

NYU-Shanghai:
12 international (3 Asian, 2 European, 7 American);
17 domestic (mainland Chinese)

Yale-NUS (ongoing):
4 international; 8 domestic
 CULTIVATING ’ACTIVE’, ‘ENGAGED’, & ‘RESPONSIBLE’ ACTORS
Lingnan
“producing graduates that not only
have mastered analytic, critical and
cognitive skills but also possess a
moral and humanistic disposition”
(Lingnan, 2017)
"Active community service: We
provide students with many chances
to engage in various service projects.
Starting from 2016-17, Service-
Learning will become a graduate
requirement for undergraduate
studies. Students can deepen learning
through experience." (Brochure 6);
Service-Learning has proven to be an
effective means by which knowledge
of staff and students is extended to
community groups in a variety of
meaningful service programmes.”
NYU-Shanghai
“In public service, NYU Shanghai aspires to
promote healthy development within the many
communities it inhabits. It strives to be a
responsible actor in the individual lives of
students, teachers, and staff; in the local
neighborhoods that surround its campus; in
the district of Pudong, the city of Shanghai, and
the nation of China; in East China Normal
University; in New York University; in the
interdependent society of humankind; and in a
fully global ecosystem.” (2016-2017
Undergraduate Bulletin 3, 2015-2016
Undergraduate Bulletin 3)
“Shanghai is rich in opportunities to serve.
Tutoring, visiting with the elderly, teaching
English and mentoring youth are just a few of
the service projects through which students
can become an engaged community member
committed to making a difference.”
(Undergraduate Admissions)
Yale-NUS
“Yale-NUS will help you to develop
both the intellectual and moral virtues
to contribute actively to civic life
within your immediate community
and beyond.” (Yale-NUS)
“We aim to encourage, through
service learning projects and other
means, community-based activities, a
strong norm of service, and a sense of
individual and social responsibility.
Without such an ethic, the notion of a
meritocracy can too easily devolve
into a rationalization of inequality and
an excuse for elitism.” (Curriculum
Report, 68)
CASE OF LINGNAN UNIVERSITY
CASE OF LINGNAN UNIVERSITY
 CASE OF LINGNAN UNIVERSITY

“We have a very strong motivation and presence in the

whole Tuen Mun district. In the district where Hong Kong
U is located, the NGOs, the schools, when they have a
problem, their first resource would not be Hong Kong U.
The first person they want to talk to or the first agency
they want to talk to would not be Hong Kong U, they will
look for different resources.

But Lingnan in Tuen Mun area is very interesting. Even the

police if they want to promote anti-crime campaign, the
first person - one of the very first unit they would talk to
is Lingnan University. And a lot of NGOs when they
develop a new program or they want to develop a new
empowerment program for women, unemployed women,
they will come to Lingnan University. Lingnan is actually
one of the beacon that people look for when they
have something new and not sure.”
“We don’t want to tell students what they can
or cannot do. But with all young people, we
have all been rebellious once. What we want is
to teach students ethical actions, be responsible
for their actions, give them a space and
resources to do what they want.”
(Director of Office of Service Learning, interview)
 CASE OF LINGNAN UNIVERSITY: WHAT STUDENTS THINK …

”If you don’t have the service learning, no interest in serving the community, it cannot be called liberal
arts education. Liberal arts education means you want to have the practical touch, to connect what you
learn and do something meaningful with that.” (student, major chinese)

“Actually I don’t know what is liberal arts education until I come to Lingnan. The school explain it to us,
then I know it is about learning about all kinds of knowledge, to help create impact on the community, to
help those who are less privileged.” (student, major business)

“Liberal arts is all about freedom to speak, to advocate for change. I don’t think the school encourage us
to engage in political activities, but at least from what I see, Lingnan won’t stop you, but the government
will. They will send police to come after you. Compared to my friends in other universities like HKU and
Chinese U, the school use a lot of means to control what the student unions do. Lingnan will say it’s one
of the values of liberal arts, so they respect more what you do.” (Pui Hing, major philosophy)
LU STUDENTS’ DIVERSE POLITICAL CONCERNS, IN AND OF THE ‘URBAN’

1. Hong Kong Culture and Arts: Creating a public

space to preserve and to educate younger people
– FuTei Bookstore

“it is my personal interests because although I’m not – I don’t

read much really, I do not read much but I’m very interested
in Hong Kong culture and some Hong Kong arts. And
then since secondary school, I participated lots of activities
organized by the community organization just like some local
tours and some workshops to learn some – learn some local
handicrafts kind of like this. And then I really admire these
kinds of committee organization to do some – this kind of stuff.
And then I really hope my – I can do the same thing in
my life. And then I see that it seems – well, it seems it
is a chance for me to do in the university, and then to
further promote kind of learning arts and culture.”

(Wing Si, student, one of the brains behind Futei)

 LU STUDENTS’ DIVERSE POLITICAL CONCERNS, IN AND OF THE ‘URBAN’

1. Hong Kong Culture and Arts: Creating a public

space to preserve and to educate younger people
– FuTei Bookstore

Bookstore used to hold smaller music

performances, with the aim of promoting
Cantonese through song and music.
This idea came about as a response to the
perceived mainlandization of Hong Kong,
whereby Putonghua was introduced to
the education system, and the fear that
Cantonese will lose its value in the Hong
Kong society. Cantonese framed as a
linguistic heritage that helps define both
the city’s and its people’s cultural and
political identity.
LU STUDENTS’ DIVERSE POLITICAL CONCERNS, IN AND OF THE ‘URBAN’

2. Elderly and ageing population: campaigning for

better urban design and intergenerational
interaction

“not all elderly people like that we go visit them

because maybe some think we are disturbing them.
But majority are happy because they receive care
from us. To me, it’s these small little things to
improve their emotion that make me learn I that I
am making a difference, in my own way”.

Spending time with them makes me and my friends

motivated to think about solutions to poor
treatment of old people. For example, we want to
start a campaign to tell people to spend more time
with old people, improve facilities in the
neighbourhood, like design the place so it’s better
for them to move around.”
LU STUDENTS’ DIVERSE POLITICAL CONCERNS, IN AND OF THE ‘URBAN’

3. Urban education: high levels of stress, anxiety

and depression among children: social innovation
for ‘alternative education’

Source: SCMP A private ’cram’ school in HK

LU STUDENTS’ DIVERSE POLITICAL CONCERNS, IN AND OF THE ‘URBAN’

Gleaned from the three examples of urban concerns and social actions undertaken…

• students at Lingnan university share diverse political concerns that are motivated and
informed by urban issues, blended into perceptions of what they can or cannot do as
‘young people’.

• Their actions considered as ’youth politics’ because these are taken to defend/reclaim
security of transition into adult world and mobility (Bayat, 2017: 21) in the future

• seek to generate (limited and small) change within their own means, available resources,
and individual interests as young persons - even as these continue to be ’socialised’
in/through liberal arts pedagogic space that aims to cultivate a normative identity (i.e. the
‘active’, ‘engaged’, and ‘responsible’ student/citizen)
POST-UMBRELL A MOVEMENT IMAGINATION OF URBAN SOCIAL ACTIONS
AND POLICING
• disillusion with youth actions taken into the city streets and its efficacy to enact any real
changes to the city’s formal politics
• increased political puppeteering of the city’s urban government and police authority,
resulting in them becoming wary of contentious forms of social actions, which might put
their own safety at risk
• Galvanised actions ‘retreat’ / ‘re-channeled’ to campus-based issues
RESTRAINED POLITICS, INDIVIDUALISING RESPONSIBILIT Y, OR
DEPOLITICIZ ATION?

Question that remains…

Is the youth participation among Lingnan students, as encouraged by the university,
complicit in reproducing a form of ‘depoliticization’, or neoliberal individualisation of
responsibility – which resonates with proponents of the post-political city thesis?
RESTRAINED POLITICS, INDIVIDUALISING RESPONSIBILIT Y, OR
DEPOLITICIZ ATION?

My initial thoughts…
There is a tendency to view youth actions channeled towards voluntary work, active
participation and community involvement as ‘apolitical’, ‘less political’, or ‘digression from
real politics’, especially from the political economy of youth politics perspective (e.g.
Tannock and Sukarieh, 2015).

Others seek to theorise volunteerism and community work as paradoxical (e.g.

Holdsworth and Quinn, 2012’s reproductive vs. deconstructive volunteering); reduce
voluntary work/participation/community engagement to self-learning

However, these may under-appreciate that young people themselves are actively defining
political concerns from the spaces of their everyday moral worlds, and making changes in
the now, for the future.
(URBAN) YOUTH POLITICS RECALIBRATED?
• Advanced our understanding of politics by consistently arguing for moving beyond
formal political action and into the everyday
- scholars of critical geopolitics (Flint, 2003; Marston, 2004; Woon, 2011)
- feminist political geographers (England, 2003; Staeheli, Kofmam, & Peake, 2004)

• Kallio and Hakli (2013) about children and young people’s politics in everyday Life::
“all practices that seek to promote children and young people’s participation, and the
participatory action in itself, are fundamentally linked with situated processes of
socialisation and subject formation.

• Destabilising the big ‘P’ and small ‘p’ (Skelton, 2010)

• “a less circumscribed, more supple definition of politics allows for a better

understanding of how the question of ‘Whose City?’– who the city is for – is always up
for grabs” (Mitchell, Attoh and Staeheli, 2015: 2633)
ANNEX: LIBERAL ARTS IN ASIAN CITIES

Source: Godwin’s Index (2013)