Young Citizens in the Digital Age Political Engagement, Young People, and New Media

A social anxiety currently pervades the political classes of the western world, arising from the perception that young people have become disaffected with liberal democratic politics. Voter turnout among 18-25 year olds continues to be lower than other age groups and they are less likely to join political parties. This is not, however, proof that young people are not interested in politics per se but is evidence that they are becoming politically socialised within a new media environment.This shift poses a significant challenge to politicians who increasingly have to respond to a technologically mediated lifestyle politics that celebrates lifestyle diversity, personal disclosure and celebrity. This book explores alternative approaches for engaging and understanding young people's political activity and looks at the adoption of information and ICTs as a means to facilitate the active engagement of young people in democratic societies. Questions asked include: How important is the Internet for young people's civic and political engagement? What evidence exists for new media to offer the prospect of stimulating new forms of mobilization by young citizens themselves? How might the ICTs be used in citizenship education? Are new media styles of political communication required to re-connect with the interests of contemporary youth culture? Young Citizens in a Digital Age presents new research and the first comprehensive analysis of ICTs, citizenship and young people from an international group of leading scholars. It is an important book for students and researchers of citizenship and ICTs within the fields of sociology, politics, social policy and communication studies among others.Brian D. Loader is Co-Director of the Social Informatics Research Unit at the University of York, UK. He has written extensively on new media and socio-political and cultural change.Loader, Brian D. is the author of 'Young Citizens in the Digital Age Political Engagement, Young People, and New Media', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415409131 and ISBN 0415409136.