Tracing the rationale for solidarity in teenagers’ post-apocalypse stories

Abstract

The paper is based on a study where 28 pupils of a Finnish school were asked to complete a fictional post-apocalypse story to afford an understanding of 15–17-year-olds’ rationales underlying complex alliances and non-alliances in school. Informed by the notion of spatial solidarity, the analysis reveals that the teenagers drew on three types of solidarity: pre-existing, reflective and affective solidarity. The findings suggest that solidarities in school stem from nuanced place-based power dynamics. Understanding these solidarities can inform approaches incorporating teenagers’ specific rationales and help adults to identify and support spaces where solidarities develop.