Молодежная политика Европейского Союза и «Май 1968»

Abstract

The article considers the problem in the history of the European Union: what date can be considered the beginning of a youth policy? In reviews of the history of youth policy in the European Union one can frequently find the date “1968”, when a wave of student protests swept across Europe, as a starting point. The article explores the reasons for this role of the May 1968 events. The article gives both a formal and symbolic answer to the question set in the study. Analyzing other studies of the European Union history and documents of the European Communities, the factual and symbolic side of the issue is considered. Using the concept of “places of memory”, coined by Pierre Nora, the author analyzes the symbol of 1968 protests in relation to the history of youth policy of the European Union. Interpreting “1968” as a “place of memory” for European politics, the author comes to the conclusion that the European Union’s youth policy has two starting points: the formal one, which is directly related to the institutionalization of the “youth” social group as a direct object of the European Union’s policy, and the symbolic, which is associated with the recognition of youth as a political entity.