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This article investigates how 15-year-old white and Turkish students in two Inner London comprehensive schools, one in a predominantly working-class area (Millroad School) and the other in a more middle-class environment (Darwin School), construct their identities. Drawing on mainly qualitative data from documentary sources, focus groups and semi-structured interviews, the work points to a range of factors affecting identity formation processes, such as macro-political approaches and school dynamics. The research found that at Millroad School, which celebrated diversity and where students' conflict was ethnic or racial, young people found safety in their national(istic) identities. In contrast, at Darwin where there was only low-level ethnic conflict, young people developed hybrid ethno-national identities. This article raises important questions about how to create community cohesion in conflictual environments so as to promote both diversity and solidarity. (Contains 1 table and 4 notes.)

Europe is undergoing considerable demographic, economic, cultural and socio-political change. National citizenship identities have been challenged by the simultaneous processes of European integration and the migration of people into and across Europe. This paper explores how the current generation of youth relates towards Europe, and highlights the factors affecting their political knowledge, interests and identities. Although the article draws on mainly qualitative data from a study into the political identities of native youth and youth of Turkish descent in England and Germany, the results have implications for all European countries. The research indicates that, in countries which promote European agendas and where schools and curricula emphasize an inclusive concept of Europe (e.g. Goethe Gymnasium in Stuttgart), young people have high levels of knowledge about Europe and make Europe part of their hybrid identities. However, in countries where governments and schools marginalize European agendas (e.g. Millroad School in London), young people struggle to relate positively to Europe, especially in working-class contexts where national(istic) agendas come to the fore. The article raises important questions about the possibilities of promoting inclusive governmental and curriculum approaches and offers ways in which the knowledge and identity gaps between youth in different European countries could be addressed. (Contains 3 tables and 4 notes.)