The internet, youth participation policies, and the development of young people's political identities in Australia

Abstract

In Australia, renewed interest in the principles of youth participation during the last decade has led to an increase in the development of youth participation policies, in both the government and non-government sectors. At the same time, the internet is being increasingly utilised to promote and implement the aims of these youth participation policies. This paper asks, what is the relationship between youth participation policies, the internet and young people's political identities? Is the internet simply a vehicle for participation policies – a mechanism for governments and organisations to extend their reach to otherwise disengaged youth? Or is it a space where young people are authoring new forms of participation and political identities? It is argued in this paper that the internet is significant in shaping the relationship between youth participation policies and new political identities in the following ways: it is a unique and autonomous platform for the realisation of project-based political identities; it is a legitimising space for new political practices of young people; and, though it can address some barriers to participation, there is little evidence to suggest that it challenges the economic structural disadvantage that can exclude certain groups of young people. Drawing on empirical research conducted in Australia, this paper provides insights into Australian young people's experiences of participation, their attitudes to participation policies, and the role of the internet in their participatory activities.

Keywords:

• young people
• participation policy
• internet use
• political identity
• Australia

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr Ariadne Vromen of the University of Sydney and the two blind reviewers for their very useful comments on this article.

Notes

1. A series of race-related, violent incidents in Cronulla in 2005, a beachside suburb in southern Sydney, has come to be known as the ‘Cronulla riots’.

2. Bang suggests that by participating in NGOs, people are creating political realities, rather than mirroring, representing or acting in the name of ‘objective interests’ (Bang 2005, p. 165).

3. Most high schools in Australian have an ‘SRC’ – student representative council.