Youth and civil society - Crossing borders? Results from the Czech, Polish and German border regions

In the presented study, the transnational, border-crossing engagement of German, Czech and Polish adolescence and young adults in border regions is examined. Referring to the social capital approach of Putnam, civil engagement is seen as an important factor for the social integration of societies or regions. The paper analyses the potential of a border crossing civil society and adolescents are seen as "sensors" for future developments. After a comparative analysis of interest and motivation for different forms of engagement, the determinants of an interest in trans-national engagement is examined. It is shown that German adolescents are more interested in this form of engagement than Czech and Polish respondents. By still existing local engagement, socialisation experiences prove to be the most important predictor for the interest in transnational activities. It follows that a lack of such experiences explains the differences between the German and the Czech and Polish border regions.