This article analyzes the relationship between youth and contemporary politics. Its principal focus of discussion refers to the process of political subjectivation and deals initially with the question of how this process implies the building of a sense of belonging to a collectivity and being responsible for life in common, as major aspects of the process of assuming one's connection to society which suggest modes of participation and action. Possibilities for engagement and their political meaning are discussed in light of youth's apparent inertia and apathy with regard to politics. A qualitative empirical study with approximately 25 youth is presented, based on interviews carried out with youth activists in student organizations and in political parties, as well as youth engaged in volunteer social work. In our analysis, there is evidence of convergence and divergence between the two groups in the meaning and objectives of engaged action and in conventional forms of militance; we discuss the relationship between these youths' trajectories and "causes" they take up that propell their action and social participation. This brings out a distinction between "politics" and "the political", keeping in mind that institutionalized forms of political activity no longer seem to allow us to deal with the demands of a shared existence, while at the same time, new forms of political action may take on the characteristics of isolated acts. Thus we conclude that for the young people we have interviewed, forms of participation and social engagement follow different paths, whether those of institutional politics, political activism or volunteer social work.
youth; political subjectivation; participation; collectives; democracy; social bonds
