| Abstract: | When the media writes about young people and political action, they usually focus on the big, spectacular demonstrations and protests. Those are the kind of political actions that are most visible to the public, and they thus get the most attention. In my study of political involvement among youth, based on interviews with young people in the Global Justice Movement, I show that many individuals see other, less visible ways of acting politically as just as important as the big manifestations. Seemingly trivial choices in everyday life; what you buy, what you eat, how you travel etc. are by them seen as political actions, in those cases when they are motivated by political opinions and values. To keep up a “politically aware” lifestyle is however not always easy.
In my paper I give examples of how the interviewed individuals reason around the connection between such inconspicuous actions, their political involvement and their long term goal to change the world. |
Ph.D., Lic. Theses
