Youth Activism in Political Squats between Centri Sociali and Case Occupate

Carlo Genova

doi:10.3390/soc8030077

Abstract

Nowadays a lot of research describes most young people as barely interested in politics, expressing little trust in political institutions and far from any forms of institutional political participation. Moreover, most of the engaged youth are involved in forms of participation described as more civic and social than political, weakly ideological, more and more often digital and developed in virtual space, and usually experienced as one among several components of everyday personal lives. The article explores youth activism in political squats because it is a form of participation which, in countertendency, is political and radical in its aims and strategies, explicitly ideologically inspired, strongly rooted in physical places, and often quite central in everyday personal lives. The text is based on research conducted in the city of Turin (Italy) by means of qualitative interviews, participant observation and document analysis. Four main interconnected thematic dimensions are considered: Individuals’ biographical paths and meanings of activism; distinctive lifestyles and cultural sensitivities among the activists; collective narratives about contemporary society and possibilities of social change; patterns of intervention and forms of organization. On the basis of these analyses, the article maintains that this form of activism can be usefully interpreted as a real lifestyle, which has an explicit and intense political sense, but which young activists also connect with a much wider, more differentiated set of meanings.

Highlights

IntroductionMany qualitative studies illustrate the diverse forms of young people’s participation and activism, referring both to the most traditional ones—such as involvement in political parties, trade unions and in social volunteering—and to the emergent ones—such as new social movements and, more recently, digital forms of political engagement
The article aims at reflecting upon youth political participation, focusing on the phenomenon of youth activism in political squats, on the basis of qualitative research conducted in the city of Turin in Italy
This article aims at moving from these different possible perspectives to develop an interpretive proposal for youth activism in political squats: In this perspective the analyses will consider which elements allow us to understand the choice of these young people to be directly engaged in an explicitly political form of activism, and in non-institutional, radical and ideologically oriented groups such as political squats

Summary

Introduction

Many qualitative studies illustrate the diverse forms of young people’s participation and activism, referring both to the most traditional ones—such as involvement in political parties, trade unions and in social volunteering—and to the emergent ones—such as new social movements and, more recently, digital forms of political engagement. Despite this huge amount of research, it is difficult to reconstruct an accurate comprehensive portrait of today’s youth political activities and attitudes in this territorial context. The major trans-national surveys focus only on the most institutionalized and traditional forms of participation; on the other hand, it is likewise difficult to elaborate this sort of general framework on the basis of the numerous but fragmented studies about specific forms of youth activism

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