ABSTRACT
Since the mass mobilisations of the so-called Arab Spring, young people in the Middle East and North Africa countries occasionally flood the squares and streets of cities protesting against corruption, elite irresponsibility and social exclusion. The current political situation in the region has not become significantly favourable to youth participation in institutional politics and young people seem disinterested in politics, disinclined to vote in elections and distrustful of political parties. More often they practise less visible and more informal participatory styles. Drawing on the empirical results of the SAHWA Project, this chapter searches for explanations for young people’s attitudes towards political participation and engagement in public life, as well as their perceptions of the opportunities and obstacles influencing their own and their country’s future. The common features of the generation and the importance of the social differences and inequalities within it are both extensively discussed.
