1. Overcoming the impasse. Depoliticization and unstructured youth opposition in underprivileged neighbourhoods.
- Author
-
Zagato, Alessandro
- Subjects
TEENAGERS ,WORKING class ,SOCIAL classes ,WORKING papers ,COMMUNITY life - Abstract
This working paper presents some preliminary results of an ongoing doctoral research project. The basic idea is to articulate two very distinct but nevertheless convergent phenomena, which deeply mark the actual 'democratic' scenery in Europe and worldwide. The first is the rampant depoliticization that, besides being coextensive to the closure of the intense political sequences which characterized the last century, seems to relegate the present to a limbo of political impotence. Indeed not only is it difficult even to imagine a way out from the actual impasse, but also when something new seems to take shape, it is quickly neutralized by the omniphagic power of the status quo. On the other hand, while the old left wing organizations head toward their complete decomposition, more and more frequently the widespread sense of frustration affecting growing parts of the population explodes in outbursts of hostility that in some cases take the form of proper urban insurrections. Among all aspects of the phenomenon I called 'unstructured youth opposition', the most perplexing one is the absence of both an ideological background and explicit claims. Trough the lens of an empirical study that the author is developing in underprivileged areas of Dublin - Ireland, this paper aims to illustrate the way working class community organizations, when confronted with exceptional events involving underprivileged youth, unequivocally show their level of depoliticization. Indeed, being incapable to explore the politicizing possibilities those erratic events carry with them, they end up supporting a repressive police management of the situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2010