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Young People and DIO Politics: Do-It-Ourselves Political Participation

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Politics, Protest and Young People

Abstract

This chapter explains how the political participation of young people has evolved and is increasingly operating outside political parties through non-electoral actions initiated by young political entrepreneurs, which can be summed up by what I call ‘DIO politics’ (Do-It-Ourselves). The chapter first explores key concepts that are helpful to understand young people and non-electoral political participation, such as postmaterialist values, everyday makers, standby citizens, lifestyle politics, political consumerism, boycotting and buycotting, issue-based politics, identity politics and personalised political participation. It then defines DIO politics and provides illustrations of how young people as part of diverse connected (local and global) communities and networks are reinventing non-electoral collective political participatory practices through creative and mindful means facilitated by digital technologies, which can have an impact on governmental policies.

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  1. Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, France

    Sarah Pickard

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Pickard, S. (2019). Young People and DIO Politics: Do-It-Ourselves Political Participation. In: Politics, Protest and Young People. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57788-7_12

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