Abstract

VAZQUEZ, Melina. Politics from bottom-up: militant narratives from unemployed male and female youths in Argentina. Rev.latinoam.cienc.soc.niñez juv [online]. 2009, vol.7, n.1, pp.423-455. ISSN 1692-715X.

The emergence of autonomous organizations of unemployed people in Argentina has promoted the formation of new militantism experiences, in which youth participation is a key component. In a context where unemployment, de-institutionalization and questioning of the traditional channels of political participation and representation have occurred, the unemployed organizations are fertile ground for the emergence of new careers of political militancy, which have created new ways of life and alternative political socialization among young people. In this article, we propose to address the above issues from the (re) construction and analysis of the youth activism careers from a specific and autonomous kind of Movement of Unemployed Workers (MTD), and from a biographical perspective. We are interested in analyzing the way in which young people incorporate themselves into a movement of unemployed, what kind of participation they have and, at the same time, how political learning is transformed in connection to the militant experiences. Essentially, we analyze how youths' political activism produces transformations or turning points in their life cycles, as well as changes in their interpretive frameworks. We use biographical interviews to develop life stories of young people belonging to the Movement of Unemployed Workers (MTD) of Lanús.

Keywords : political socialization; youths; unemployed movements; autonomy; biographical method; narratives; Argentine.

        · abstract in Spanish | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )