five - Celebrating pluralism: beyond established forms of youth participation

Summary

Reintegrating citizens

The emergence of populist parties in Europe may be a result of the inability of the established parties to articulate the interests of citizens. This reflects a broader lack of trust between government institutions and civil society, an increasing dissatisfaction of citizens in representative politics, politicians, established parties and elections, and ‘the feeling of helplessness and impotence in relation to government’ (Chomsky, 2009). Young people, in particular, exhibit low voting turnout, feel disaffected from representative politics and politicians, and are distancing themselves from political youth organisations. Youth participation has been promoted as an effort to link the interests of young people to those of decision makers. However, there is a discrepancy between rhetoric and reality. At the same time as current formats of youth participation seem to fail in articulating the interests and aspirations of young people, there has been an emergence of a myriad of unconventional ways that young people express their identities. There is an apparent misfit between the offered spaces for participation and the emerging forms of expression.

In Finland there are 200 youth councils, in France about 4,000 local or regional youth councils, and in the UK about 500 youth or student councils. In Finland youth councillors are typically elected through elections in the schools. These youth councils are placed within the municipal administration and youth councillors often have the right to attend meetings of the political bodies.

They provide opportunities for young people to discuss local youth policies and have a dialogue with decision makers. However, there is increasing criticism regarding the deficiencies of this type of youth participation.

The youth representation of these youth councils is often restricted to a limited group of ‘insider’ youth; disadvantaged and marginal young people tend to be underrepresented, participation stays at the level of consultation, there is little actual impact and the dialogue with decision makers is occasional and tokenistic (Matthews and Limb, 2003; McGinley and Grieve, 2010; Kallio and Häkli, 2011). Clearly, local youth participation needs redirection. McGinley and Grieve suggest that ‘Part of the answer may be to move from a representative approach, symbolised by youth councils, to create a participatory culture… [and] a nurturing relationship which encourages active listening and moves into purposeful conversations and meaningful dialogue’ (McGinley and Grieve, 2010, p 258).