Youth Politicisation in (Post-)Crisis Greece: Ideological Currents, Attitudinal Dynamics, and Levels of Political Engagement

The aim of this paper is to illuminate the main ideological currents that underlie and shape the political culture of the Greek youth in the (post-)crisis era. Our definition of youth follows the standard U.N. convention, i.e. persons between the ages of 15 and 24, but our field research has a rather narrower focus centring on the analysis of the ideologico-political profile and political participation of university students. This is so for two main reasons: a) the centrality of the university milieus vis-à-vis youth politicization, and b) the determining impact of the student movement on shaping the political culture of the entire social category. It is worth noting in this regard that from the late 50s up until the December 2008 youth revolt universities became a hotbed of political radicalization with university students leading or being at the forefront of all major socio-political struggles. This resulted in the formation of a distinctive political culture that radiated from campuses to political parties and civil society organizations.       In this context, and stimulated by the sharp decline of student mobilization and student union membership during the crisis we have conducted a PanHellenic student survey with a sample of 1.100 respondents so as to illuminate the root causes of the phenomenon. Our analysis indicates that students’ attitudinal profile remains relatively distinctive and more left-wing than the population at large but exhibits a clear tendency towards normalization. Political radicalism and interest in politics is in decline, while there are evident changes as to the means and patterns of politicization; e.g., rapid contraction of the party factions that once served as the main entry point to the political process. In combination, these dynamics have a discernible impact on students’ reduced level of political participation both within and outside campuses. Moreover, they point to a potentially explosive mix between growing political cynicism and a latent crisis of representation that calls for our due attention.