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New Forms of Solidarity and Young People: An Ethnography of Youth Participation in Italy

  • Nicola De LuigiEmail author
  • Alessandro Martelli
  • Ilaria Pitti
Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Palgrave Studies in Young People and Politics book series (PSYPP)

Abstract

Drawing from the findings of the European project ‘Partispace,’ this chapter analyses three solidarity initiatives promoted by youth leftist groups in Bologna (Italy). Materials were collected through an ethnographic study that included in-depth interviews with young activists. This material highlights the connections between the initiatives of these groups, their objectives and practices, in the context of the global financial crisis. The analysis shows that these initiatives, while seeking to mitigate the problems faced by vulnerable groups (i.e. migrants, refugees and the homeless), were also fuelled by practices of self-help aimed at responding to the unheeded ‘generational needs’ of the young people themselves. The projects emerge as ‘laboratories of political resistance’ where strategies for collective action based on mutual help and self-empowerment are experimented with and enacted.

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Copyright information

© The Author(s) 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  • Nicola De Luigi
    • 1
    Email author
  • Alessandro Martelli
    • 1
  • Ilaria Pitti
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Sociology and Business LawUniversity of BolognaBolognaItaly
  2. 2.Centre for Studies on Civic EngagementÖrebro UniversityÖrebroSweden

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