One of my research interests at the moment is in the area of the political socialization of children. Political socialization research explores the means by which people are introduced to particular ideological frameworks and the processes by which they begin to acculturate themselves into these frameworks.
Traditionally, the emphasis has been on how political socialization contributes to support for--or involvement with--a particular political party or pressure group. My own work takes a more expansive view of what politics 'is' and is interested in exploring the role that popular culture might play in socializing people to be predisposed towards particular explanatory narratives when it comes to political dynamics and understandings of the limits of political possibility.
For the moment I've been looking at children's story books, and focusing on the Paddington Bear series by Michael Bond. While some might find it surprising, these books are incredibly fertile ground for exploring themes of migration, integration, British identity, multi-culturalism, liberal subjectivity, and security.
Given these interests, I was pleased to discover that the UK Parliament has commissioned a very well produced on-line video game called 'MP for a Week', targeted at 11-14 olds. Players chose which region they would like to represent and what issue areas they would like to focus on. The rest of the game revolves around deciding how to balance the demands of your constituents and the demands of your party with establishing your own media profile and (in some cases) adhering to your own moral compass.
What I find so interesting about the game is that it performing political socialization on two levels. On a very obvious level it is teaching children about the role of MPs in a parliamentary system and attempting to demonstrate how challenging a job it can be.
On another level though, what could be argued to be a more vital form of socialization is taking place. That is in terms of political possibility. The actual areas of policy open for questioning and the range of viewpoints available are incredibly narrow, reflecting for the most part 'center-left/center-right' positions. While one could argue that this is reflective of UK parliamentary politics, thus demonstrating the realism of the game design, one can see how the structure of the game itself makes a contribution socializing the dismissal of alternatives to the current socio-political economic system.
As such, 'MP for a Week' draws our attention to how simulations shape perceptions of what is politically realistic in contemporary society and socialize children into passively accepting the foundations of the status quo.
Photo credit: LD-