Life-history interviews

Life history interviews allow to investigate political participation diachronically, as a long-lasting social activity articulated through the different phases of a life trajectory and forms of engagement. What characterizes the study of political participation through this qualitative methodological tool is, above all, an emphasis on agency, contextualization, and transformation. This chapter introduces the epistemological assumptions of the life history interviews (social–constructionist and symbolic–interpretative), how they have been applied to investigate political participation, in particular from scholars studying unconventional forms of political participation, and identifies the steps for conducting these with activists (planning interviews, selection, preparing a guideline and conducting the interview, transcribing and analyzing). It concludes by highlighting a possible way forwards for the study of political participation by adopting life history interviews.