Youth Political Participation is not declining but changing form, can change come from this?
It is a common misconception that young people are disinterested in politics and do not want to participate in political change, as they are less engaged in formal politics – such as voting and becoming a political party member (Rainsford, E. 2017). However this is not the case, young people are participating in political affairs, through their own form of engagement focusing largely on non-traditional, alternative forms of politics such as boycotts, signing petitions, demonstrations as well as online engagement (Kitanova, M. 2018).
The definition of ‘Political Activism’ is an attendance of a meeting or event organised by any of the political organisations for the data collection method (Rainsford, E. 2017). This traditional view on political activism, following official political organisations for the means of data collection, is not how the youth participate.
The young are political!
Young people use forms of engagement that need to be recognised as true political activism and engagement. We have had different social and cultural experiences to those in older generations (Loader, B. 2007) and with this comes a change in how we express ourselves. The traditional styles of political engagement do not interact with the new social media orientated life of the young people (Loader, B. 2007). With over a third of young people agreeing that things they read on social media will influence their vote and their political views (The Guardian, 2015), the use of social media to spread political issues is incredibly important in keeping the youth engaged and knowledgeable.
Social media is a platform that young people use to express their opinions without the alienation that they can receive when attempting to be a part of formal political organisations(Rainsford, E. 2017), their age holds them back from being taken seriously. 66% of social media users have used their platforms to encourage people to take action on a political issue, and younger people are more likely to do this than those who are older (PewResearchCenter, 2012). Again showing that young people are involved with politics, just through the means of online engagement and discussion, or encouraging demonstrations for matters they truly believe in. Not just voting and calling it a day.
The traditional types of politics such as voting and political party memberships are monitored to gather data on political engagement, and rightfully so, they are important to creating change. However, just because we have traditional forms of engagement does not mean the new ways of engaging should be ignored. By ignoring these new ways of political engagement amongst the youths, you are rejecting their ‘Youth Agency’ (Earl, J et al. 2017) and not allowing them to politically socialise. Meaning that by assuming that young people are disengaged with politics, as their routes of political engagement do not follow the traditional styles, you are not allowing them to experience political growth as their engagement is disregarded. The youth are not allowed to learn how to be political in their own way, as the data continues to monitor formal political engagement rather than expression and youth activism.
Youth activism faces many hurdles, young people struggle to be taken seriously and there are further inequalities when gender and race is involved also (Earl, J. 2017). Older generations alienate younger generations when they attempt to join formal types of political engagement, so the youth have created their own way of activism and engage in demonstrations to create a loud change rather than ticking a box.
A great example of youth activism is the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, at the heart of the movement were many young people, spreading the word of protests through social media, especially twitter (The Guardian, 2020).
‘We Couldn’t just be silent’ – 21 year old, Natasha (The Guardian, 2020).
The youth found their voice in these protests, arranging them on social media and having thousands turn up in over 260 towns and major cities in the UK alone (The Guardian, 2020) to support and express the importance of this movement.
This movement, along with many others, presents the importance of the youths political voice and how their changing forms of political expression are just as important as traditional forms and need to be respected. Over 60% of young people take part in non-voting political engagement (Tedx Talk, 2012) yet it goes unnoticed and the youth are continuously labelled as disinterested, when clearly this is not the case.
How do you engage with politics? Do you follow the more traditional forms or prefer the changing forms of engagement?
Bibliography:
Earl, J., Maher, T., Elliot, T. (2017) Youth, activism and social movements. Sociology compass. 11(4). Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12465
Kitanova, M. (2018) Youth political participation in the EU: evidence from a cross-national analysis. Journal of Youth Studies. 23(7). Pp: 819-836. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2019.1636951
Loader, B. (2017) Young Citizens in the digital age: Political engagement, young people and new media. New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.
Mohdin, A. (2020) ‘We couldn’t be silent’: The new generation behind Britain’s anti-racism protests. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/29/new-generation-behind-britain-anti-racism-protests-young-black-activists-equality (Accessed: 21.02.21)
PewResearchCentre. (2012) Social Media and Political Engagement. Available at: https://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/media/Files/Reports/2012/PIP_SocialMediaAndPoliticalEngagement_PDF.pdf (Accessed: 21.02.21)
Rainsford, E. (2017) Exploring Youth political activism in the United Kingdom: What makes young people politically active in different organisations? SAGE Journals. 19(4). Pp: 790-806. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1369148117728666
Sedghi, A. (2015) A third of young people think social media will influence their vote. The Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/mar/10/a-third-of-young-people-think-social-media-will-influence-their-vote (Accessed: 21.02.21)
Tedx Talks (2012) Jacob Helliwell. Youth engagement in politics indifferent or just different? (YouTube) Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdDFLzyk94k&list=WL&index=41&ab_channel=TEDxTalks (Accessed: 21.02.21)
Hi, I agree with everything you have said! I found it eye-opening that 66% of social media users have used their platforms to encourage political action and I am not shocked this is more likely to be done by younger people. There is definitely a generational divide.
To answer your questions, I engage with politics through both forms. I vote when I have the opportunity, but I do prefer changing forms of engagement because there is more you can do with them. For instance, you can create a petition on matters that may not be tackled through voting. For instance, I signed this reducing tuition fees petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/550344
From this you can definitely see how much the issue matters to young people and unfortunately, we did not get the intended result. However, this proves your point; young people are engaged in politics, so why is there such a misconception that we are not? The generational divide strikes again!
I am sure you have heard about the ‘Youthquake’ from the 2017 general election –an unexpected result based upon a surge in youth turnout. Some called this a myth, disregarding youth agency and belittling youth engagement. As you said, people are ignoring newer forms of engagement when they do matter. Petitions have created change! One of the Labour party’s appeals to youths was their use of newer forms of engagement. Check this article when you have the chance: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40244905
It highlights the fact that Labour defeated the Conservatives in the social media battle during the election. Labour directly targeted us young people, unlike the Conservatives who I feel revolve around the older generation. Obviously, young people supported Labour, as Ipsos Mori pointed out in 2017, 62% of 18-24 year olds voted for the Labour party. So yes, the young are engaged through both forms!
Hi Lucy, thanks for the comment. I’m glad you agree with my post!
I know! Its ridiculous how the generational divide makes us young people seem uninterested with politics. We’re engaging in ways we know how, and I think demonstrations etc make a great difference. We have a voice, lets use it, I say!
Definitely heard of the ‘youthquake’ I think Labour did a great job turning to social media and rallies to get more young people involved. Times have changed and political parties need to encourage the changing forms of political involvement and get everyone involved! Especially, as you said, changing forms of engagement such as petitions can allow for more issues to be explored, not just those tackled in voting. Its great there’s more spaces and opportunities to voice further issues. Thanks for sharing this article, its a great summary!
Thanks again for your comment and for sharing your views!