The chapter is dedicated to analysing the representations and meanings connected with the young activists’ choice of engagement in the political field. One of the main reasons for both joining the group and subsequently engaging within it is a critical judgment of the current society and its functioning, linked to a desire for transformation and improvement. However, only rarely do extensive and structured narratives about current society, its main problems, their causes, and possible solutions emerge in the activists’ discourses; various critical issues—such as excessive competition, precariousness, injustice, and disinformation—are indicated, but these references are not organised within unitary and coherent frames. Additionally, when asked to explain the reasons for their activism, the young activists develop articulated discourses, within which perspectives of social change, the search for friendly networks, cultural interests, and the quest for collective identities and belongings are co-present. Therefore, entry into and permanence in the group respond to a multiplicity of meanings, only partly interpretable as perspectives of political participation or social commitment.

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Representations of Society and Meanings of Participation

  • Carlo Genova,
  • Martina Tazzara

摘要

The chapter is dedicated to analysing the representations and meanings connected with the young activists’ choice of engagement in the political field. One of the main reasons for both joining the group and subsequently engaging within it is a critical judgment of the current society and its functioning, linked to a desire for transformation and improvement. However, only rarely do extensive and structured narratives about current society, its main problems, their causes, and possible solutions emerge in the activists’ discourses; various critical issues—such as excessive competition, precariousness, injustice, and disinformation—are indicated, but these references are not organised within unitary and coherent frames. Additionally, when asked to explain the reasons for their activism, the young activists develop articulated discourses, within which perspectives of social change, the search for friendly networks, cultural interests, and the quest for collective identities and belongings are co-present. Therefore, entry into and permanence in the group respond to a multiplicity of meanings, only partly interpretable as perspectives of political participation or social commitment.