Social communities as drivers in youth civic engagement

Social relations are key drivers in young people’s participation, including civic engagement. This presentation identifies six major orientations as drivers for how Danish youth prioritize participation in social communities. Data is 12 qualitative interviews with Danish ‘average’ youth (aged 15-30) focusing on their social communities and friendships; What kind of communities are of importance? What are their practices and what do they prioritize? Despite contemporary sociological characterizations of social communities as detraditionalized (Giddens 1994) and young people as individualized (Beck & Beck- Gernshaim 2015), at a first glance, this study indicates that young people’s social communities match traditional structures; Family is central, so is school and other institutional related communities. Danish youth are also engaged in a range of leisure and interest-based communities and digital arenas are mainly used to maintain existing communities. However, social communities are not perceived as manifest and natural to the young people. They are objects of endless maintenance and investments of time and attention. And, thus, community participation is also subject of prioritization. The study identifies six major drivers for how young people prioritize community engagement. Orientations towards 1) Intimacy & affirmation, 2) self-realization and self-affirmation, 3) ideals and visions for a better society, 4) obligation and continuity, 5) work and prosperity 6) festivity and youth culture. The presentation will explore how these orientations affect young people’s community participation and discuss the implications of the findings for how we perceive contemporary drivers for youth civic engagement.