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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Youth and (EU) elections – voting or neglecting?

Manfred Zentner

Danube University, Department Migration and Globalisation (Krems/Austria)Institute for youth culture research - jugendkultur.at (Vienna/Austria) Pool of European Youth Researchers (PEYR)

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Next stop: ……………?

• Post war generation understood the EU as a project for peace and wealth:

• 50s/60s were full of regret, guilt, anger and the wish to change and to establish wealth – traditional values of belonging to families, nations, groups

• The 70s lead to liberation, freedom, individualisation.

• 80s and 90s saw the End of History, the final victory of (economic) liberalism and democracy;

• Early 21st century: uncertainty, insecurity

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Changes in society

• Decline of meta-stories: communism, capitalism, religions have lost their influence and power of interpretation

• risk-society: dangers that can not be influence endanger all people – climatic change

• New balance of work life and leisure time: new forms of finding identities

• Cult of juvenility

• Globalisation and networking

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Individualisation in consumer society

• Established forms of community building lose attractiveness.

• The individual person puts itself to the centre stage!

• Lifestyle as motor of group building: aesthetics of live

• Values are part of lifestyles and means for self-expression.

• Every consumption as investment in the own market value

Foto: greune.com

Foto: faz.net

Foto: carolineclarkdesign.com

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Democracy – granted, endangered, out-dated?

• Decline in interest in (party) policy and in election turn-outs in all European countries.

• Rise of distrust in political parties, in governments/parliaments and in the system.

• Neglecting the elections is not endangering democracy but some political developments (even in the EU) are.

• Citizenship as basis of involvement? Feeling of belonging as basis of involvement?

• Alternatives are gaining momentum – e-participation, consultations…

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Democracy in the consumer society – post-democracy

• Democracy means that you CAN get involved – not you have to.• Politics a service paid with taxes: “they should just do there job”.• Politicians do the dirty work that nobody wants to do – but we are

also not electing our garbage collectors.• But they start asking us to participate – like garbage collectors tell

us to recycle!• Politics as fast reactions, protectionism, against pleasure, for

industry against individual rights?

• Anti-consumerism: boycotting certain brands, not buying anymore when discontent with the performance.

• Anti-consumerism in politics: neglect elections, because voting does not change anything.

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Post-democracy

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

General development: decrease in turnouts

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Why should youth change this?

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Why should youth change this?

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Concepts of participation: you don’t own me

Bottom up or top down?

• Representation of youth – youth involvement in policy making as legal right

• Youth councils – pupils/student councils

• Youth parliaments

• If we invite (young) people to participate, we don’t know the results!

• Demonstrations / strikes

• E-participation beside voting

• Active, political correct way of living without political demand

• Common topics in demonstrations do not imply similar political values!

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

The right to participate for youth

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

We can not predict how participation will end …

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Personal involvement shown in private

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Make jokes not war!

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

When to get involved?

The more it affects me, the more I care.

• Leisure time / media / lifestyle• Education / work• Equal opportunities / discrimination• Human rights • Environmental issues / animal rights• Democracy

• The more I know about it, the more opportunities of action I see:• Information as a basic means for participation, but is not the guarantee

for “the correct” decisions.

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

In need of positive symbols

• EU elections 2014 ….• To vote or not to vote?• The EU parliament – in charge of what? Knowledge provision

in times of image centred communication.• New concepts of electing needed (e.g. voting for people from

other countries….)• Direct election of the President of the European Commission

– so what?• Last but not least: the date.

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

May 25th: Day of Youth

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

May 25th: we will know who has won in Europe!

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Youth and EU-elections – voting or neglecting?Next stop: to vote or not to vote, Brussels, 24/04/14

Thank you for your attention

Youth and (EU) elections – voting or neglecting?

Manfred ZentnerDanube University, Department Migration and Globalisation (Krems/Austria)Institute for youth culture research - jugendkultur.at (Vienna/Austria) Pool of European Youth Researchers (PEYR)