Family – Still an Important Instance of Political Socialization?

Traditionally, family is considered as an early and important instance of socialization in childhood and adolescence. However, due to social modernization processes, the significance of the family in the field of political socialization seems to have become questionable, especially since the focus is increasingly on the positioning and demarcation that takes place in the context of peers as well as on communication in social media. The question of the significance of the family for political socialization in adolescence is explored in the planned contribution on the basis of biographical interviews conducted in the research project “Biographical Experiences and Political Engagement in Adolescence”.

The life stories of adolescents who show different degrees of political (dis-)engagement reveal the central aspects of their political socialization. In some cases, the family is explicitly attributed significance with regard to the development of political interests or political engagement, but this significance can only be inferred implicitly in other cases. This makes it necessary, however, to use a broad concept of politics so that different dimensions of social relationships (e.g. hierarchy, dominance, care) can be considered as aspects of the political. These aspects are explained and their significance is reflected upon in the context of a comparative case study.