Digital Issue Movements: Political Repertoires and Drivers of Participation among Belgian Youth in the Context of ‘School Strike for Climate’

Peter Conradie,Michel Walrave,Koen Ponnet,Cato Waeterloos

doi:10.3390/su13179892

Abstract

It often remains unclear how young citizens are combining various forms of political participation, as well as why they choose some over others, especially within a single-issue movement. Moreover, little is known about how social networking sites (SNS) fit into the political repertoires of citizens. Therefore, this study explores youths’ political participation patterns in the context of the 2019 youth-led climate strikes. We rely on data from a paper and pencil survey among 498 high school students in Belgium. To identify different types of activists, the study used latent class analysis (LCA). In addition, a multinomial logistic regression was conducted to assess how identified participation types differ from each other. Four different participation repertoires regarding the climate issue were identified, each distinctive in the way they rely on different forms of political participation. In addition, membership to each of the different classes is associated with a unique set of characteristics (in terms of political efficacies, climate issue involvement, and online expression motives). The article shows how SNS make up a crucial part of youths’ issue-specific participation patterns and sheds light on the mechanisms underlying their participation choices within the climate movement.

Highlights

Citizens’ ways of engaging in civic society have undergone significant changes in postindustrial societies
Drawing from literature that acknowledges changing citizenship norms, participation repertoires and media habits among youth, the present study aims to analyze which different participation patterns exist among Belgian high school students regarding the climate issue
In accordance with prior research, we preferred latent class analysis (LCA) as a statistical method as we aimed to identify different types of political participation based on various response patterns [19]

Summary

Introduction

Citizens’ ways of engaging in civic society have undergone significant changes in postindustrial societies. Youth in particular seem to be longing for more customized forms of engagement [1]. That is, they seem more willing and able to pick and choose from various social issues that interest and affect them, without the need for intermediary organizations or parties [8,9]. They seem more willing and able to pick and choose from various social issues that interest and affect them, without the need for intermediary organizations or parties [8,9] Characteristic of these emerging forms of citizenship is the desire to ‘think globally’

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Conclusion