ABSTRACT
This chapter aims first to provide an overview of empirical evidence regarding young people’s attitudes towards political participation, and their use of old and new media in Germany and Austria. Second, starting with the concept of identity construction (Paus-Haase 2000a), it discusses recent theoretical and empirical approaches in youth and media research, and their limitations when it comes to the question of how young people make use of new media against the background of the challenges they meet in growing up in today’s Western societies. One upshot of these limitations is that research has to overcome several theoretical and methodological obstacles to providing a comprehensive understanding of the meanings of different forms of civic engagement. As one step towards this goal, this contribution proposes the concept of ‘practical meaning’ as a theoretical basis for research and to practical approaches regarding democratic engagement.
