Youth Democratic Political Identity and Disaffection: Active Citizenship and Participation to Counteract Populism and Polarization in Barcelona
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. The Decline of Democracy, the Rise of Populism, and the Youth Today
1.2. New Forms of Participation and Democratic Political Identity of Youth in Public Life
1.3. Democracy, Participation and Youth in Spain and Catalonia
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Research Design
2.2. Sample: Selection Criteria and Respondents
3. Results
3.1. Young People’s Participation Patterns
3.2. Participation Scale Results
3.2.1. Personal Development Subscale (PD)
3.2.2. Voice/Influence Subscale (VI)
3.2.3. Community Engagement Subscale (CC)
3.3. Political Attitudes and Organizational Governance
3.4. Open-Ended Questions
The connection I have for the years I passed in it, the people who welcomed me, everything that it has given me as a person, and the little bit I can give back to leave the world better than I have found it.(R34)
What mainly motivates me is to break with the institutionalized spaces that we find everywhere and to organize young people to build things for ourselves is a very nice thing. To give space and voice to a part of the population who that does not usually have it, because of their precarious situation or for the simple fact of being young(R49)
To be part of the organizational staff of the entity and to participate in the organization of events beyond our entity (with other entities in the neighborhood, for example)(R119)
Peer-mentoring activities between more experienced people and new people, activities to know each other and to do teambuilding(R80)
A very positive aspect is that we work in an assembly and we all know how the entity works and this makes us feel that we belong to it and a stronger identity.(R176)
Depending on who takes the lead within the steering committee, you have to carry a heavy workload, or people get relaxed and don’t do much.(R125)
4. Discussion
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
1 | https://www.cjb.cat (accessed on 22 November 2023). |
2 | https://webs.uab.cat/erdisc/equip (accessed on 22 November 2023). |
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Sociodemographic Questions | |||||
Age | 16–18 | 18–20 | 21–23 | 24–26 | 27–29 |
4.65% | 33% | 41% | 17% | 4.65% | |
Gender | Female | Male | Non-binary | I prefer not to answer | |
58.91% | 36.43% | 3.10% | 1.55% | ||
Place of birth | Barcelona | Rest of Catalonia | Rest of Spain | Abroad | |
89.8% | 3.1% | 3.9% | 3.1% | ||
Education | Secondary studies | Post-compulsory | Tertiary education | ||
3.10% | 55.04% | 41.86% | |||
Working situation | Working | Not working | |||
79.84% | 20.16% | ||||
Place of living | With family at family home | Alone, in an indep. Home | Sharing, in an indep. Home | ||
82.17% | 0.78% | 17.05% | |||
Participation patterns | |||||
Membership in organizations | In 1 org. | In 2 org. | In more than 2 org. | ||
68.99% | 27.13% | 3.88% | |||
Type of organization | Educative | Youth centers and assemblies | Cultural | Political organization | Social advocacy and political group |
63.57% | 24.81% | 3.88% | 4.65% | 3.10% | |
Years of membership | Less than 1 | Between 1 and 3 | Between 3 and 5 | More than 5 | |
8.53% | 22.48% | 18.60% | 50.39% | ||
Hours per week of participation | 1 h or less | Between 1 and 3 h | Between 3 and 5 h | Between 5 and 7 h | More than 7 h |
3.88% | 10.08% | 23.26% | 18.60% | 44.19% |
How Many Years Have You Been Participating in the Organization? | N | % |
---|---|---|
Less than 1 | 11 | 8.53 |
Between 1 and 3 | 29 | 22.48 |
Between 3 and 5 | 24 | 18.60 |
More than 5 | 65 | 50.39 |
Total | 129 | 100.00 |
How Many Hours Do You Dedicate to your Organization per Week? | N | % |
---|---|---|
1 h or less | 5 | 3.88 |
Between 1 and 3 | 13 | 10.08 |
Between 3 and 5 | 30 | 23.26 |
Between 5 and 7 | 24 | 18.60 |
More than 7 | 57 | 44.19 |
Total | 129 | 100.00 |
Mean | St. dv. | |
---|---|---|
Personal Development Subscale (PD) | 4.25 | 0.55 |
18. For me, what we do in the organization is stimulating. | 4.48 | 0.79 |
19. To participate in the organization is a learning opportunity for me. | 4.68 | 0.70 |
21. I think that participating in the organization will help me to get a job. | 3.60 | 1.20 |
22. I think that participating in the organization will help me in my current or future education. | 3.86 | 1.14 |
23. I feel respected by people who hold responsibilities in my organization. | 4.44 | 0.87 |
24. People who I meet at my organization show interest for myself. | 4.24 | 0.92 |
26. I usually feel safe when I am involved in the organization’s activities. | 4.42 | 0.71 |
Voice/Influence Subscale (VI) | 4.34 | 0.64 |
14. In my organization, I participate in decision-making, for instance about management or the activities carried out by the entity | 4.64 | 0.61 |
15. I feel that I have influence in my organization’s regular decision-making areas | 4.18 | 1.03 |
17. I am very involved in the organization’s activities | 4.35 | 0.85 |
25. It was easy for me to get involved in the organization | 4.19 | 0.85 |
Community Engagement Subscale (CE) | 3.76 | 0.79 |
27. My organization works together with other services from the neighborhood to organize activities. | 3.81 | 1.14 |
28. My participation in the organization has had a positive influence on how people in my neighborhood treat me. | 3.13 | 1.35 |
29. My participation in the organization has had a positive influence on how I treat people from my neighborhood. | 3.81 | 1.15 |
30. I plan to keep participating in community issues after I stop participating in the organization. | 4.27 | 0.92 |
12. How Many Years Have you Been Member of the Organization? | 34. I Identify with Democratic Values such as Equality, Social Justice, Inclusion and Equity. | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 4 | 5 | |||||
N | % | N | % | N | % | N | |
Less than 1 | 1 | 9.1 | 2 | 18.2 | 8 | 72.7 | 11 |
Between 1 and 3 years | 1 | 3.4 | 5 | 17.2 | 23 | 79.3 | 29 |
Between 3 and 5 years | . | . | 4 | 16.7 | 20 | 83.3 | 24 |
More than 5 years | . | . | 7 | 10.8 | 58 | 89.2 | 65 |
Total | 2 | 1.6 | 18 | 14.0 | 109 | 84.5 | 129 |
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Essomba, M.À.; Nadeu, M.; Tarrés, A. Youth Democratic Political Identity and Disaffection: Active Citizenship and Participation to Counteract Populism and Polarization in Barcelona. Societies 2023, 13, 245. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13120245
Essomba MÀ, Nadeu M, Tarrés A. Youth Democratic Political Identity and Disaffection: Active Citizenship and Participation to Counteract Populism and Polarization in Barcelona. Societies. 2023; 13(12):245. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13120245
Chicago/Turabian StyleEssomba, Miquel Àngel, Maria Nadeu, and Anna Tarrés. 2023. "Youth Democratic Political Identity and Disaffection: Active Citizenship and Participation to Counteract Populism and Polarization in Barcelona" Societies 13, no. 12: 245. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13120245