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Western development organizations frequently target youth in conflict settings to participate in peaceful, cooperative activities to promote nation-building and deter violence. In this article, Heddy Lahmann examines the narratives of fifteen youth who participated in a US-funded nonformal arts education program in Afghanistan, which operated with the key objective of promoting national identity in its participants. Using open-ended interviews coupled with an arts-based research technique, Lahmann investigates how Afghan youth perceive their identity in relation to the nation. Her research indicates that national identity arguments do not adequately address other salient intersections of identity, such as an individual's developmental stage in life and the significance of gender, and largely leave out the influence of colonialism on the way national identity is conceptualized in non-Western contexts. Lahmann argues that program designers and policy makers must incorporate the local knowledge and experiences of youth and address the unique needs of various groups, including marginalized populations and young women versus young men, to effectively engage them in education efforts.
Keywords: youth, conflict, war, nonformal education, arts education, arts-based research
States and governments frequently employ schooling systems and education programs to promote national identity, citizenship values, and common traditions (Burde, 2014; King, 2014; Smith, 1991, 2005). While such efforts are inherently complex, complexities intensify when foreign governments are at the helm of designing education programming for these purposes. Nation- building and the promotion of national identity are common themes in development efforts in conflict-affected settings, particularly those funded by Western nations (Hassan & Hammond, 2011). Development aid agencies spend millions of dollars each year on nonformal education programs for youth (USAID, 2012).1 Organized educational activities that take place outside of formal education systems are utilized in conflict-affected settings to provide both training for marginalized individuals who do not have access to formal schooling and life skills training not provided in formal school settings (UNESCO, 2014, 2017; USAID, 2012). Scholars point to the benefits of nonformal learning to reach youth who are both in and out of school, to allow youth greater flexibility and agency than structured, formal education environments, and to promote citizenship through youth-led activities in local communities (Romi & Schmida, 2009; Stewart, 2011). Such programs typically aim to engage energetic, capable youth in peaceful nation-building activities...