A matter for concern?The future of the youth agenda in Europe

‘Building Tomorrow’s Future’: European Conference on youth work & youth policy, Bonn, Germany

Dr Howard WilliamsonProfessor of European Youth Policy

©University of Glamorgan

Overview• Looking to the future• The social condition of young people• Protest• A broken generational contract• Alliances and responses of the young• There is no end to history• Youth policy and Europe• Democracy in retreat• Beyond Hebe’s dream©University of Glamorgan

Some recent observations• Plan B for Youth

– Context, Challenge, Solutions, Conclusion: educational and work opportunities for young people and a share in political power

• The Locust and The Bee– Toxic levels of mistrust, but crises can be both

barren and fertile, need to cultivate capacities

• Indignez-Vous– Inequalities and (threats to) human rights; “our

outrage at injustice remains intact to this day”©University of Glamorgan

Stéphane Hessel 1917-2013

• French resistance fighter• Concentration camp escapee & survivor• Human rights campaigner• Diplomat / ambassador to the UN• Poet and writer• Humanist and progressive• Indignez-Vous! (Time for Outrage!)• [Occupy and the Indignados]©University of Glamorgan

Looking to the future• Young people

– 94 million Europeans aged 15-29– Only 34% employed & 5.5m (21%) unemployed

• The risks of speculation– Rumsfeld, horse manure and pods!

• Everybody tries– Journalists, political scientists. historians– Social scientists, politicans

• New alliances amongst the young?– Socially disadvantaged– The intellectually disaffected

©University of Glamorgan

The social condition of young people• To be young is to be excluded?• Young people have to make their worlds• The balance of opportunity and risk• Fractured and fragmented transition pathways• A new youth? Dependence AND autonomy• Vulnerable youth• Human, social and identity capital• The importance of ‘youth policy’• The increasing ‘youth divide’©University of Glamorgan

Protest• North Africa and the Middle East• Greece, Spain and Portugal• The rest of Europe• The lost generation finding a voice?• An audacious reclamation of autonomy?• Not the end of history?• Occupy• Indignados• UK Uncut©University of Glamorgan

A [broken] generational contract?

• Worsening futures:– Unemployment and ‘scarring effects’– Demographic shifts and the fiscal burden– The slowing of economic growth rates– The benefits to labour/capital of any growth– Heavier demands on household incomes– Downward pressures on salaries– Class demographics – the only way is down

©University of Glamorgan

A generation sacrificed / betrayed?• Parliamentary Assembly/Youth Assembly

– Resolution to build ‘a better future together’– Invest in youth, strengthen voice, access to rights– But hardly any Parliamentarians turned up!

• Mason’s ‘graduate without a future’– Wages don’t rise, can’t buy property, locked out

of occupational pensions, holes in the welfare net

• European Forum Alpbach– More and more qualifications, endless internships,

no guarantees, sense of betrayal©University of Glamorgan

New alliances amongst the young?

• Generation X and then Generation Y• Generation Einstein & Generation Frankenstein!• The English riots 2011• Solidarities in the IPOD generation• A ‘showdown between the generations’?• Blocked opportunity structures• Different responses?©University of Glamorgan

Responses of the young

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• Reaction• Radicalisation• Revolt• Retreat• Relocation and Reverse Colonialism• Re-alignment – through shared anger and frustration

amongst young people with very different, though sometimes overlapping, histories…..

• New economic, social & political arrangements?– networks, services, non-capitalism

There is no end to history• The financial crisis• 2008 – the right-wing’s ‘fall of the Wall’• Yet little being done on governance• Where is the safe haven for human capital?• Reconstruction of broken institutions• Democracy, egalitarianism, rationality• The capitalists have to learn now…• Or do they? No room for complacency ©University of Glamorgan

Youth policy• By design/intent, default or neglect• Positive/purposeful v. negative/punitive

• Youth transitions – complex and reversible• Youth transitions – vulnerability and risk• In the mainstream / on the margins

• Promoting inclusion / Combating exclusion• Opportunity, experience, participation• Government, NGOs, communities, families, themselves• Proliferation of ‘youth policy’ at all levels©University of Glamorgan

European developments in youth policy• 1968 les événements – youth participation (voice)• 1985 UN IYY - youth development• 1989 The fall of The Wall – intercultural learning• EU – Youth for Europe to Youth in Action• CoE – international youth policy reviews since 1997• EU/CoE Youth Partnership since 1998• EU 2005 European Youth Pact• CLRAE Revised Charter on Youth Participation• CoE 2008 Agenda 2020• EU 2009 Investing and Empowering©University of Glamorgan

Democracy in retreat?• 1945-75 ‘maximal democracy’• Public sector Keynsianism• 1975-2008 declining democracy• Public sector monetarism, private Keynsianism• What now for flexible markets, (in)secure

labour, democracy, certainties and securities?• Globalisation, rising inequalities, resistance to

‘solidarity transfers’, regional nationalisms• Cameron’s ‘knee-jerk xenophobia’• ‘We are Europe’©University of Glamorgan

Beyond Hebe’s dream• The need for a variety/diversity of youth work• The need for training and professionalism• Balancing ‘forum’ and ‘transit zone’• Balancing autonomy and support• Balancing citizenship and employability• Enabling personal change for positional change• An ever more diversified youth agenda

– Housing, health, racism, faith, generations– Access, inclusion, information, mobility

©University of Glamorgan

Beyond Hebe’s dream - scenarios• Youth policy and youth work futures in Europe:

– The abandonment of youth– Containment and privilege– An equitable ‘package of entitlement’

• The need for convergence and a united strategy– A long-term joint political strategy– A comprehensive review and peer learning process– One single coherent programme– A support structure for research and development– A European Youth Agency?

©University of Glamorgan

Conclusion

• Stepping out of economic and social orthodoxies – and taking risks

• Addressing the back door rewriting of social contracts

• Combating the neutering of democracy– World Forum for Democracy

• Youth policy and supporting constructive new alliances amongst the young

©University of Glamorgan

Between autocrats & automatons

• Undemocratic power structures and decision-makers

• Robotic and authoritarian workplaces

• Living and loving, learning and earning must be governed by more egalitarian, democratic and humanistic arrangements….

• or must they?©University of Glamorgan

©University of Glamorgan

Show indignation - agitate

Get involved - participate

Challenge conventions - dispute

Offer alternatives - speculate

Stand up for values - integrity

Stand up and be counted - solidarity

“It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees”(Dolores Ibárruri, Spain, January 1938)