Is There a Youth Politics?
Is There a Youth Politics?

Author(s): Asef Bayat
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Civil Society
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Youth politics; politics; youthfulness; contemporary; Middle East;
Summary/Abstract: Is there such a thing as ‘youth politics’ in the way we have gender politics, working class politics, or poor people’s politics; and if there is, what are its attributes and modes of expression? After all, what is the significance of youth politics, if any? Even though some have expressed doubts about ‘youth’ as a meaningful category or considered it as a mere construct, here I would like to propose an analytical lens which may help understanding youth as a useful category with distinct politics. In this sense ‘youth politics’ will be viewed in terms of the conflicts and negotiations over claiming or defending youthfulness; but this is a politics that is mediated by the position of the young in class, gender, racial, sexual and other involved social structures. In brief, the political outlook of a young person may be shaped not just by the exclusive preoccupation with ‘youthfulness’, but also by his/her positionality as citizen, poor, female, or a member of a sexual minority. The propositions advanced here are informed by my observations on young people’s lives in the contemporary Middle East, where the spectacular Arab uprisings brought youth to the forefront of politics.

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