Vital Conjunctures in Compound Crises: Conceptualising Young People’s Education Trajectories in Protracted Displacement in Jordan and Lebanon

Abstract

This paper emerges out of a study with 293 young people (Syrians, Palestinians and nationals) living in contexts of compound crises and protracted displacement in Jordan and Lebanon. In the paper, we discuss how young people’s education trajectories can be conceptualised, operationalised and studied. We synthesise different approaches to understanding and analysing such trajectories into a framework that captures the intricate and multi-directional ways that young people navigate towards uncertain futures. The framework on multi-directional trajectories takes its starting point from an understanding of Victoria Browne’s ‘lived time’, captured through how different temporalities come together in one person’s story. After presenting our framework and the context in the first part of the paper, the second part applies the framework to analyse the ‘vital conjuncture’ of leaving education. By analysing leaving education as lived time, we create nuanced insights into how this vital conjuncture can be understood to shape young peoples’ trajectories. In conclusion, we discuss the value of understanding trajectories as lived time by illuminating how young people experience and navigate their education trajectories.