Youth, Politics and Education: A Swedish point of view

Youth, Politics and Education: A Swedish point of view

Ylva Bergström, visiting professor
Uppsala University
  • Ylva Bergström (2016)Ylva Bergström (2016)

Ylva Bergström est chercheuse invitée, en séjour à l'OSC du 7 janvier 2016 au 30 juin 2016.

Ylva, tell us more about your institution and the research team where you are involved
I am associate professor in sociology of education, with a position as senior lecturer at Uppsala University, and member of the research group Sociology of Education and Culture (SEC), which is a node in Scandinavia for research centered on certain French traditions founded by Pierre Bourdieu, Jean-Paul Benzécri and others. The research areas in SEC include studies on cultural fields, the formation of elites, students’ trajectories, and transnational transformations of the educational and cultural fields and also history of education. Our research is methodologically based on geometric data analysis and prosopographical methods.

Could you explain your current field of research: interest, topics, issues, and 2 or 3 methodogical elements you used?
Lately I have been working on a project regarding youth and politics, with a certain focus on the space of political position takings and how the structure of political position-takings correspond with social origin (parents education and occupation), educational assets, inherited as well as acquired (educational program and school), sex and also place (comparing here the urban life to rural district). The study is based on questionnaire, conducted among 1500 students in upper secondary education, with a geometrically correspondence analysis, and qualitative analysis (through 65 interviews).

Who are the French researchers with whom you are in touch? Around which particular questions?
The work of and collaboration with Brigitte Le Roux (Cevipof) and Frederic Lebaron (Printemps) has been of great importance. I am also inspired by the work of Jean Chiche, Pascal Perrineau (Cevipof) and of Stéphane Beaud (Univ. Paris Ouest La Défense - ENS) and Michel Pialoux (CSE-EHESS). I am working on a re-analysis of the world value survey (WVS open data base) comparing the space of position-takings 1990, 1996, 2006 and 2011. It’s a challenge to work out the possibilities to study change, and on this matter the collaboration with Le Roux is crucial.

Could you describe the interest to be visiting in Sciences Po Paris / OSC?
I am recently involved in a research program on families in the Swedish educational landscape, which has changed dramatically the last 20-30 years, due to, as in many other countries, decentralization and more importantly: marketization. It is changes in families’ paths, their assets and strategies over time – 19851 to 2016 – and in different geographic areas, different parts of urban cities and rural districts that are of interest. The work is based, again on statistical analysis – census data – and large amounts of interviews. This research also draws on French sociology, whereas the work of Agnès van Zanten on elite education and privileged families is of great importance. I have the opportunity to get to know her research from the inside since we are working on a re-analysis of some of her earlier studies on elite families.  

I am also finishing an article on the social inequalities in trajectories to higher education that focus on studies abroad and the importance of school assets (non the least extracurricular activities) and families cultural, economic and educational capital. This also relates to the work of Agnès van Zanten and however ….

I have attended many interesting seminars at OSC and of course the academic prestige of Science Po, attracts important lectures and offers interesting seminars, I pay attention to the seminars and Scoop lectures at MaxPo, and joint seminars given by LIEPP/OSC.

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