Finding political identities: young people in a changing Europe

This text examines how young people in Europe construct their political identities.

Based on small discussion groups with 2000 young people across 29 European states, Alistair Ross explores how 13 to 20 year olds build identities in contemporary society, creating contingent narratives of local, national and European identities with families, friends and social media.

As well as exploring what these kaleidoscopic identities look like and the sources they draw on, it also examines how these accounts are assembled and integrated with each other.

The study uses deliberative discussions to allow young people to develop their own constructs and terms in conversation with each other.