Youth doing politics in times of increasing inequalities

Abstract

Particularly in the current context of rapid political change it is key to understand the political participation of young people and what underpins their political engagement patterns as well the as the inequalities that may lay beneath them. While there is a rich literature on youth participation, to date we have lacked the data to carry out detailed subgroup analyses to understand differences in the political participation between different groups of youth cross-nationally. The papers in this Special Issue all examine different aspects of youth participation in the current context. They examine key questions for participation including the inequalities, socialising influences, polarisation, online participation, radical political views, tolerance, life engagement and opportunities for social inclusion. This Special Issue thus provides a contemporary analysis of youth participation in Europe in the current historical juncture.

The Impact Of Douyin (Chinese TikTok) On The Socialization Of Chinese Youth

“…As social media today are a key method by which young people engage with political activism [4]. Douyin is also raising the attention of Chinese youth to political and state authorities.…”

Young People's Attitudes towards Democracy and Political Participation: Evidence from a Cross-European Study

“…These forms of engagementstrongly associated with self-expressive valuesgo beyond formal, institutional and routinized electoral politics ('duty-based citizenship'). DIO behaviours embed politics in daily life practices through different repertoires of action ('engaged citizenship'), such as digital media activism, political consumerism, volunteering, protesting, boycotting, staging public performances and more (Dalton 2008;Della Porta 2019;Earl et al 2017;Giugni and Grasso 2021;Holecz et al 2021;Pickard 2021;Pickard et al 2022;Quaranta 2015;Zukin et al 2006). Therefore, rather than being democratically disaffected or even opposed to democracy, young people participate in politics differently to older generations in their respective contexts.…”

“…Whereas it is still the case that 'hardly any research has looked at patterns of engagement "within" a generation of young people across different democracies' (Sloam 2013: 836), recent studies suggest that variations among groups of young people can be salient. In particular, inequalities related to gender, migration background and socioeconomic status influence young Europeans in different ways (Giugni and Grasso 2021;Quintelier and Hooghe 2013). Maria Grasso and Marco Giugni (2022; see also Henn and Foard 2014) show across several European countries that large class inequalities between young people negatively affect their views about democracy.…”

“…Indeed, youth scholars often go beyond a narrow understanding of democracy, which encompasses mostly electoral and other institutional forms of participation. They describe young people's political engagement beyond conceptions of dutiful and rightful adult citizenship, including broader political repertoires and forms of expression such as lifestyle politics, digital activism and street protests (Bright et al 2018;Earl et al 2017;Giugni and Grasso 2021;Pickard 2019Pickard , 2021. As a result, youth political participation consists of institutional actionssuch as voting or party membershipbut also non-institutional actions, such as protesting or flash mobs (Grasso 2016;Theocharis and Van Deth 2018), where young people are overrepresented (Grasso 2018;Pickard and Bessant 2018).…”

Escape from Politics: Is There a Future for Youth Political Protests in Siberia and the Far East?

“…протест определяется исследователями (теории политического процесса и мобилизации ресурсов; теория новых общественных движений [Buechler 2013;Ishkanian 2022] В начале XXI в. все чаще объектом научного изучения становятся молодежные протесты Романов, Мещерина, Коротаев 2021;Shentyakova, Grishin 2021;Renström, Aspernäs, Bäck 2021]. Так, к одному из ключевых факторов роста протестных настроений в социуме, наряду с другими, исследователи относят рост численности молодежи в демографической структуре [Горшков, Шереги 2020;Grasso, Giugni 2022]. О вовлеченности юношей и девушек в протестное движение с помощью социальных медиа пишут зарубежные и отечественные авторы [Ушкин 2014;Титов 2020;Bosi, Lavizzari, Portos 2022].…”