Young people’s political engagement – a new political subject

TY - ABST

T1 - Young people’s political engagement – a new political subject

AU - Lieberkind, Jonas

PY - 2022/6

Y1 - 2022/6

N2 - Young people around the world have once again begun to engage in political issues and to participate politically in society. Perhaps it is the first time since the iconic youth rebellion in '68 that the involvement of young people across borders has received such a great and broad political attention. However, are we again witnessing a youth rebellion, and on what foundation do young people participate and engage politically? Based on a series of qualitative interviews with Danish young people aged 16-30 years, the paper examines a number of characteristics that form and drive young people's political engagement. Thus, the aim is to study the political subject of the current young people, that is to say, young people’s drivers and barriers for political engagement. The central thesis of the paper is that younger generations are characterized by a post-political “spirit” (Boltanski & Chiapello, 2007; Weber, 2000), which detaches them from conventional forms of political engagement. Hence, the paper will proposes a conceptual shift from the political subject to the post-political subject within research on young people’s social and political engagement. The concept of the post-political differs from the political as it transgresses social, political, and economic interests (e.g. interests of social classes) and is not reliant on a set of coherent political ideas (e.g. ideology). Post-political challenges, and their solutions, are couched in terms of evidence and morality rather than in parliamentarism, ideological choices and the distribution of goods (Fukuyama, 1992; Mouffe, 2005; Rancière, 2011; Wilson & Swyngedouw, 2014).

AB - Young people around the world have once again begun to engage in political issues and to participate politically in society. Perhaps it is the first time since the iconic youth rebellion in '68 that the involvement of young people across borders has received such a great and broad political attention. However, are we again witnessing a youth rebellion, and on what foundation do young people participate and engage politically? Based on a series of qualitative interviews with Danish young people aged 16-30 years, the paper examines a number of characteristics that form and drive young people's political engagement. Thus, the aim is to study the political subject of the current young people, that is to say, young people’s drivers and barriers for political engagement. The central thesis of the paper is that younger generations are characterized by a post-political “spirit” (Boltanski & Chiapello, 2007; Weber, 2000), which detaches them from conventional forms of political engagement. Hence, the paper will proposes a conceptual shift from the political subject to the post-political subject within research on young people’s social and political engagement. The concept of the post-political differs from the political as it transgresses social, political, and economic interests (e.g. interests of social classes) and is not reliant on a set of coherent political ideas (e.g. ideology). Post-political challenges, and their solutions, are couched in terms of evidence and morality rather than in parliamentarism, ideological choices and the distribution of goods (Fukuyama, 1992; Mouffe, 2005; Rancière, 2011; Wilson & Swyngedouw, 2014).

KW - young people

KW - political subject

KW - postpolitical

KW - youth rebellion

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

T2 - NYRIS 2022

Y2 - 13 June 2022 through 15 June 2022

ER -