Informal Education as Freedom

Re-considering youth and community work through a Capabilities Approach

Abstract

Introduction
Austerity policies have failed to recognise and account for the value of youth and community work. Against a backdrop of excessive cuts since the 2008 financial crash, youth services have been disproportionately affected, with a growing emphasis on measurement, outcomes and, ultimately, performativity (de St Croix, 2018, Youdell and McGimpsey, 2015). In their recent research project, Louise Doherty and Tania de St Croix have highlighted tensions in measuring and evaluating youth work, and argue that the way practice is recognised and valued by young people and youth workers is disconnected from the way it is measured, monitored and evaluated. They argue that, rather than seeking to ‘measure’ practice, a grassroots democratic approach to accountability would attempt to create the conditions in which high quality practice can be nurtured and developed' (Doherty, 2019).