Rethinking Citizenship in Turbulent Times

Contemporary politics is increasingly performative, apolitical, anti-political or unpolitical. In today’s turbulent times, political choices are often framed as technical, inevitable, or simply 'common sense'. Depoliticization strips people of their voice and healthy political debate, breeding frustration and cynicism. Depoliticization is integral part of democratic backsliding as illiberal regimes empty citizenship of its meaning, thus facilitating transition away from liberal democracy. By contrast, right-wing narratives on both sides of the Atlantic reintroduce conflict, identity, and agency, fueling a conservative turn even among the young. Rather than leading progressive change, young people — especially young men — are increasingly drawn to conservative- or radical-right movements, challenging assumptions about their progressive role. While populism and polarization dominate current research, depoliticization remains underexplored. Studies of unpolitics, antipolitics, and apolitical withdrawal highlight political crises, institutional distrust, and elite hostility as important democratic challenges, but scholarship remains fragmented. This paper proposes an integrated framework linking depoliticization to democratic participation, value shifts to better understand how do young people learn, perform, and contest citizenship when politics is framed as technical inevitability or 'common sense'. Is this shift a backlash against depoliticisation? Does it stem from cultural insecurity, gendered socialization, or economic precarity? Do populist unpolitics – such as war, conspiracy, and religion – offer youth a sense of clarity and belonging denied by technocratic neutrality of apolitics? Relying on European survey data on youth conservatism, digital mobilization and democratic education, we explore why a generation expected to drive progressive change is instead turning rightward — and what this means for the future of citizenship and democracy.