Tihomir Viderman, Rafael Maximiliano Flores de Leon, Silke Weidner, Dominik Ringler, Anna Grebe, Gerd Kaufmann

Unsettling Youth Participation in Relational Space and Commons: Case Study Lusatia

Introduction

Unsettling youth participation in relational space and commons: case study lusatia. Esamina la partecipazione giovanile in Lusazia post-carbonifera. Critica i modelli amministrativi lineari e propone una prospettiva relazionale per un coinvolgimento più autentico dei giovani nello spazio e nel futuro.

Abstract

L’articolo esamina la partecipazione giovanile all’interno di trasformazioni strutturali in Lusazia, una regione post-carbonifera della Germania orientale.Il testo mette in luce come i quadri di riferimento adottati dall’amministrazione locale si basino su una logica lineare e territoriale della partecipazione che non trova risonanza con le persone che vorrebbe coinvolgere. Basandosi sulla teoria spaziale e sulla prospettiva dei commons, l’articolo propone una prospettiva relazionale per spiegare la disgiunzione tra i formati partecipativi previsti dalle istituzioni e i modi contingenti, affettivi e situati con cui i giovanisi relazionano allo spazio e al futuro. Mentre le istituzioni e la ricerca mettono l’accento sull’accesso e la rappresentanza, l’articolo, basato su dati empirici, mostra come la spesso la partecipazione fallisca nell’intercettare i ritmi molteplici e diseguali della vita quotidiana. Inquadrare la partecipazione in termini relazionali apre un terreno contingente per un coinvolgimento più situato verso futuri intesi contemporaneamente come ereditati, immaginati, costruiti, messi in atto e contestati.

Review

The article, "Unsettling Youth Participation in Relational Space and Commons: Case Study Lusatia," offers a timely and critical examination of youth engagement within the context of structural transformations in Lusatia, a post-coal region in Eastern Germany. It powerfully argues that conventional, often linear and territorially-based frameworks for participation adopted by local administrations fail to resonate with the lived realities and aspirations of young people. Drawing upon spatial theory and the perspective of the commons, the paper introduces a compelling relational lens to explain this significant disjunction between institutional participatory formats and the contingent, affective, and situated ways in which youth interact with their environment and envision their future. A core strength of this research lies in its empirical foundation, which effectively demonstrates how current participatory approaches, often prioritizing access and representation, consistently overlook the "multiple and unequal rhythms of everyday life." By shifting the analytical focus to a relational understanding of participation, the article moves beyond simplistic notions of engagement, revealing the complex interplay of inherited, imagined, constructed, enacted, and contested futures. This nuanced approach challenges both institutional practices and academic inquiry to reconsider the fundamental premises of youth involvement, thereby illuminating why many conventional initiatives prove ineffective in fostering genuine and sustainable participation. The article's "unsettling" contribution is significant for both scholarly discourse and practical policy-making. By exposing the inherent limitations of prevailing participatory models, it provides a robust conceptual framework for developing more situated and responsive engagement strategies. The proposed relational framing opens up a contingent terrain for fostering youth participation that is deeply embedded in their spatial and temporal realities, rather than imposed through top-down directives. This work is crucial for regions undergoing profound economic and social transitions, offering invaluable insights into how to genuinely connect with and empower younger generations in shaping their collective futures, while implicitly challenging institutions to adapt to these complex, lived dynamics.

Full Text

Comments

You need to be logged in to post a comment.