- Marco Giugni, University of Geneva
Public Discourses About Youth and Their Impact
Abstract: This talk discusses the role of discourses for the political engagement of young people. It presents the results of two separate but related analyses. The first examines the impact of public discourses, looking at the ways in which collective actors frame youth in the public domain and how this may provide discursive opportunities understood in terms of the extent to which public discourse portrays young people as agents of social change. It shows that young people are depoliticized in the public domain. This process of depoliticization of youth in the public domain, in turn, has important implications on their potential for acting as political agents and for their political activism. The second analysis focuses on the impact of discourses by political elites, looking at the effect of pro-youth and anti-youth elite statements on young people’s political engagement. It shows a causal effect of elite discourses on youth political engagement. Moreover, it shows evidence for mediation effects through political trust as well as emotional states such as hope, pride, and relief. These findings have important implications for steps for the inclusion of young people in the democratic process.
The seminar will be held in presence at Palazzo Strozzi, Piazza Strozzi, Altana Conference Hall
Entrance will be allowed up to the maximum capacity of the room and the Green Pass will be verified at the SNS Front Office, V floor.
External guests are requested to fill in the reservation form and wait for the written confirmation.