Learning to Fight for Your Rights? Models of Political Socialization in Schools and Youth Mobilization

Sociologists study how schools socialize youth for adult roles, yet few investigate the relationship between school socialization and student action on injustice. Using ethnographic data from five high schools, we examine political socialization through curricula, pedagogy, discipline, and extracurricular culture. We identify political socialization along a continuum from power to social control . We find that students challenge injustice when schools engage political and social issues and limit discipline. However, students are less likely to act, even when they perceive injustice, in schools with harsh discipline that restrict discussion of social or political issues—regardless of school sociodemographic characteristics.