Institutionalisation of youth political participation in the EU : a neoliberal attempt to castrate the political engagement of young people outside the ballot box

Pušnik, Tomaž (author)

Young people are increasingly withdrawing from institutional and representative forms and turning to alternative political practices. This shift has also been declaratively recognised on the level of political institutions and representatives. This article examines how youth political participation is addressed in the institutional mechanisms for youth political participation in the EU and Slovenia. Using the Foucauldian analytics of government, we show that political participation emerged during the European integration processes with the student protests of 1968 and in the processes of institutionalisation via various governmental operations the critical and alternative voices of young people were shaken off. This is also reflected in contemporary mechanisms such as the EU Youth Dialogue on the level of the European Community and the Council of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth, where the analysis shows that institutional and representative forms of political action, especially elections, are privileged, whereas alternative youth activities are almost completely disregarded. At the same time, neoliberal rationality is shifting the responsibility for (non-)participation onto young people and attempting to create an identity of active (economic) citizens who will participate in an appropriate manner

• Language: English
• Keywords: youth, participation, institutions, representation, analytics of government
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.07.2024
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 341-362
• Numbering: Letn. 61, št. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-160903-ad56d349-2a9f-79cc-cfe2-936c5975ed7b
• UDC: 323.21-053.6:061.1EU
• ISSN on article: 0040-3598
• DOI: 10.51936/tip.61.2.341
• COBISS.SI-ID: 200858115
• Publication date in RUL: 05.09.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Teorija in praksa : revija za družbena vprašanja
• Shortened title: Teor. praksa
• Publisher: Fakulteta za družbene vede
• ISSN: 0040-3598
• COBISS.SI-ID: 763652

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Institucionalizacija politične udeležbe mladih v EU

Abstract

Mladi se v svojem političnem delovanju odmikajo od institucionalnih in predstavniških oblik ter se vedno bolj usmerjajo alternativne politične prakse. Takšno usmeritev mladih so na deklarativni ravni prepoznale tudi politične institucije in politični predstavniki. V članku obravnavamo, kako se v institucionaliziranih mehanizmih za politično participacijo mladih v EU in Sloveniji naslavlja politično participacijo mladih. Prek foucaultovskega teoretsko-metodološkega aparata analitike oblasti pokažemo, da se je politična participacija med evropskimi integracijskimi procesi začela s študentskimi protesti leta 1968 in se v procesih institucionalizacije prek različnih praktičnih vidikov delovanja oblasti otresla kritičnih in alternativnih glasov mladih. To se odraža tudi v sodobnih mehanizmih, mladinskem dialogu na ravni Evropske skupnosti in Sveta vlade za mladino Republike Slovenije, pri čemer je iz analize razprav razvidno, da se privilegira institucionalne in predstavniške oblike političnega delovanja, predvsem volitve, alternativna udejstvovanja mladih pa so skoraj popolnoma spregledana. Hkrati pa se v okvirih neoliberalne racionalnosti odgovor za (ne)participacijo prelaga na mlade in poskuša oblikovati identiteto aktivnih (ekonomskih) državljanov, ki bodo participirali na primeren način.

• Keywords: mladi, participacija, institucije, predstavništvo, analitika

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: J5-3109-2021
• Name: Onkraj volilne skrinjice: percepcije in prakse politične participacije mladih