Youth Political Participation and Precarity During Times of Crisis: Greece in a Comparative Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the relationship between youth political participation and precarity, associated with the worsening of labour market conditions in Greece as a result of austerity measures along with the policy inefficiency in addressing the needs of young people. Although recent scholarship has explored the relationship between labour flexibilisation and precarity, less attention has been paid to its connections with youth political participation, with relatively few studies focusing on Greece. Therefore, the question of whether young people who encounter increased precarity are disconnected or merely participate through other modes of action remains largely unaddressed. Our chapter seeks to fill this void by demonstrating that young people primarily engage in non-electoral forms of participation, such as boycotts and verbal/written statements and to a lesser extent in protesting activities such as demonstrations, occupations and strikes. However, low participation of young Greeks in more contentious actions, such as strikes/demonstrations primarily led by traditional labour organisations in Greece, should not be interpreted as a (passive) acceptance of labour market conditions or as political disengagement. Rather, it appears to be tied to broader issues such as the inability of the traditional unionism to provide opportunities for young precarious workers.