ABSTRACT
Having emerged from being a post-war Soviet republic to independence in 1991 and then entering the EU, the political conditions in Estonia have undergone significant changes. It is against the backdrop of these new political and social conditions, along with new economic development, that Estonian youth have to negotiate not only their citizenship identities but also their attitudes and citizenship behaviour. These social, political and economic conditions of the country provide the context in which the research reported in this chapter was conducted. In a democratic, European-oriented society, youth have new challenges evoking a fresh research question about how today’s Estonian youth construct their civic and political engagement? This was the question guiding the study reported among Estonian (n = 360) adolescents aged 11-18 years old and will provide the context against which the research results can be understood and interpreted. A declining youth population, youth as a vulnerable age group in the labour market and commitments to both national and European identity characterize dominate social conditions and trends among youth nowadays. Young Estonians had a relatively good level of civic knowledge, but they were reluctant to engage in political and conventional citizenship activities (e.g. such as voting) with predominance of being more individualistic and more alienated from politics, which highlights the importance of a social action approach to citizenship education across different educational and social contexts.
