41
Rethinking Youth Participation For Social Development and Community Strengthening
JOURNAL OF YOUTH RESEARCHES
There exist certain rights of passage and transition from youth to adulthood, which in-
clude the progression from partial dependence from adults to being independent and
capable of self-reliance. Nevertheless, nowadays the road to independence has become
a little more complicated than previous generations and often young people do not easily
find jobs that can sustain them fully and as a result they tend to also focus more on qual-
ifications and getting a good education which will help them get access to opportunities.
On the other hand, for many this is translated as a delayed access to adulthood. As Irwin
argues, positioning the notion of youth between dichotomies becomes a “post hoc af-
fair”. The author continues by arguing that “the difficulties of locating youth and transition
in relation to general social arrangements have not been tackled head on” (Irwin, 2013:
3). The clash with adulthood often makes young people seem like they do not possess
the capabilities that adults have already acquired. A lot of young people face difficulties
especially in decision making since it is seen as a task which only adults should perform.
This not only undermines young people but it also hinders the process of acquiring pas-
sage to adulthood and it inhibits their agency.
Youth should be the epitome of social change, but quite on the opposite, young people
are often being portrayed as problematic or as sources of trouble. Adolescence is not
even clear for many adults and it is often denominated as an “elusive period” in a life of an
individual. The media, as well as schools, plays an important role in such portrayals and
also inflicts a certain way of thinking or mindset. Although youth can be “ostracized” from
adulthood, it does not mean that young people cannot perform important and serious
tasks which require adult characteristics and maturity. Changing realities often means
changing mindsets. Changing stereotypes towards youth and strengthening social struc-
tures that promote youth empowerment also means creating an environment for future
generations not just as a future investment, but it means also treating youth as present
beings instead of just seeing them as adult-becomings. Policy makers as well as stake-
holders have an important role to play when it comes to creating the right environment
and circumstances for young people to exercise agency and improve realities. Youth
involvement in the cultural, economic, social etc. spheres is crucial for accessing new
knowledge and personal development. But the conditions for participation are not always
easy to be attained since everything depends on the context.
In addition, in order to promote participation and youth development, there needs to be
initiatives which do not just promote a superficial form of participation, but instead a kind
of participation which results as truly beneficial in terms of encouraging participants to
change things around them and make them feel motivated for intergenerational and cul-
tural exchange. Christens & Dolan (2011: 528) notes that “community organising groups
that have built coalitions for local change over the past few decades are now involving
