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- Author or Editor: Eeva Luhtakallio x
This concluding chapter returns to the conceptual turn the book has suggested by calling the analysed engagements ‘doing society’. It assesses that this contribution has enabled a holistic approach to participation and its democratic consequences. It revisits extant theorizing on representation and the cultural sense making of the relationship between the people and the polis. It suggests that in the Nordic societies, the collective action schema, and along with it the key characteristics of the Finnish political culture, are going through a major shift from an organization-focused culture to one built around individuals. The chapter summarizes the cultures of doing society emerging from youth engagements as techno-rationalist problem solving; finding a place for the individual and individualist problem-solving by the collective as an instrument. These three analytical densifications show the effect of an individualized yet traditionally collectivist cultural value base from which the young people were doing society. The chapter ends by dismantling common ‘myths’ about the youth: according to this research, there was nothing apathetic about them; participatory democracy had the ills it has been accused of, but also provided many invaluable experiences; and, finally, collectivism is coloured by cultural tools of individualism even in situations that seem the most obviously driven by collectivism, such as in the climate movement.
In Finland, each local election has almost 1 per cent of the population running for a seat in the city or municipal council, including thousands of young people. This chapter looks at first-time young candidates: where do they come from, why are they running in the election and how do they see politics in general? We find three main pathways to candidacy: through the participatory-industrial system, through various youth organizations and nongovernmental organizations, and through the hobby-collector path where politics is just one pastime activity among others. This makes young candidates quite often seasoned civic veterans. For the majority, candidacy is a continuation of a self-project, and politics is seen as problem solving instead of as a place for conflict between differing views. In contrast to other chapters in this book, parties are seen as collective structures empowering their members.
This introductory chapter presents the book’s theoretical foundations by introducing the concept of doing society, a conceptual innovation that draws on cultural sociology and pragmatist theorizing, notably building on civic imagination, group styles and regimes of engagement. Doing society enables a more holistic analysis of forms of participation, ranging from fleeting interactions to actively building political careers, departing from the actors’ understanding of the political and focusing on their action and engagements. Furthermore, the chapter opens up three contextual perspectives in which the book is situated. The first perspective suggests a ‘zeitgeist’-oriented contribution to the social scientific debate about the current dynamics of individualism and collectivism. The second perspective addresses the societal context of the research on which the book is based: the historical background and current realities of participation by using individualistic cultural tools in the Nordic countries and in particular Finland. The third contextual perspective is that of youth studies and young people’s specific position as the actors forging the future of democracy by using individualistic cultural tools. Finally, the chapter presents the contents of the book.
Based on interviews and fieldwork among climate activists principally from the Extinction Rebellion Finland, this chapter shows how the cultural tools of individualism work in a social movement with all the seemingly traditional features of collective action. While demonstrations and civil disobedience are often organized collectively, and their aftermath is dealt with debriefing in affinity groups, the engagements of the activists turn out to be extremely individualistic. Activists portray themselves as reluctant both to call themselves activists, and to pursue the actions any longer than strictly necessary, and these features connect to their burdensome feeling of being individually responsible not only for the actions they take, but also for the movement’s success, and ultimately for the fate of the planet. Political protest, or the collective movement formed to pursue it, has no intrinsic value, but only serves the purpose of influencing climate politics in the most efficient ways possible. The chapter concludes that the individualistic and efficiency-bound culture of doing society replaces prefiguration and, overall, results in a solitary and burnout-prone activist experience for the youth.
How do young people participate in democratic societies? This book introduces the concept of ‘doing society’ as a new theory of political action. Focused on Finnish youth, it innovatively blends cutting-edge empirical research with agenda-setting theoretical development. Redefining political action, the authors expand beyond traditional public-sphere, scaling from formal to informal and unconventional modes of engaging.
The book captures diverse engagement from memes to social movements, from participatory budgeting to street parties and from sleek politicians to detached people in the margins. In doing so, it provides a holistic view of the ways in which young people participate (or do not participate) in society, and their role in cultural change.
