Balek, French youth? If the expression (taken from the much used « I don’t give a fuck ») is not really refined, it is the quick impression given by the record abstention rate (41%) of 18-24 year olds in the second round of the presidential election. This would be to forget that 59% of them went to the polls. Despite appearances, this generation, which votes less than the others, is not indifferent to social and political issues… And this is not the least of its paradoxes. How to understand this youth that more or less marketing designations (Y, Z…, depending on the age group) end up caricaturing? Specialist in the question, the sociologist Olivier Galland publishes “20 years, the beautiful age? (ed. Nathan), a fascinating X-ray of 18-24 year olds based on a Harris Interactive survey for the Institut Montaigne of 8,000 young French people from all walks of life, sociological, cultural or geographical. Surprise: it paints the portrait not of a homogeneous youth, but rather of several youths who, sometimes, ignore each other and are light years away from each other.
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SHE. How do you explain that 41% of 18-24 year olds did not vote in the second round?
Olivier Galland. This did not surprise me, since a majority of them experience political disaffiliation. 55% do not recognize themselves as close to any party, 34% even believe that voting is useless. Their systematic abstention from national elections continues to grow. More than two thirds think that politicians are corrupt, it’s huge. They grew up in a climate of very strong political discredit. And then they expect strong and rapid changes, especially in the climate. But our world is interdependent, politics has become the art of compromise, which they find difficult to accept and which feeds their mistrust.
SHE. According to an Ipsos/Sopra steria poll, 61% of those who voted gave their vote to Emmanuel Macron, 39% to Marine Le Pen. How do you analyze it?
OG They were less seduced by the far right than 25-34 year olds [49 % ont apporté leur suffrage à Marine Le Pen , 51 % à Emmanuel Macron , ndlr]. Their vote reflects the overall outcome of the election. Those who went to the polls are in the continuity of the vote of their parents. Family political attitudes are still transmitted today. I don’t believe in the idea of a generational break with their elders. We talk a lot about it in the media, but our survey rather reveals a continuity with the parents and the values that they carry according to the economic, cultural or geographical contexts.
SHE. The paradox is that they are not necessarily indifferent…
OG Yes. The majority of them feel concerned, even very concerned, by the issues of the climate, inequalities, racism, violence against women or terrorism. But this interest does not translate into a traditional political commitment. If the state of the planet worries them, only 11% feel close to Europe Écologie-Les Verts.
SHE. Why haven’t they mobilized much against the danger of the extreme right, as their elders did in their time?
OG They grew up in its trivialization. Its program is far from their concerns and, for the majority of them, rather nebulous. Enough that they weren’t particularly scared by this one.
SHE. In the demonstrations of young feminists or ecologists, we have the feeling of seeing a majority of girls. is it an optical illusion?
OG. No, it’s reality. Our survey identifies four sociopolitical typologies. Young women are overrepresented in the largest group (39%), which we have called “protest democrats”: very sensitive to climate and gender issues, they prefer to protest in the streets or on social networks rather than through traditional politics. But they remain very attached to democracy and repudiate political violence. They are also the most educated, with greater cultural capital than the other groups. And, on the question of gender, these young women, more than their mothers, but also more than boys their age, are at the forefront of social evolution.
SHE. Who are the most rebellious 22%, according to your study?
OG Contrary to the image conveyed by the media, which would like them to belong to an academic elite, like the handful of students from Sciences-Po or the École Normale who mobilized during the inter-tour , they are invisible to society. Most are less educated and less privileged than the population as a whole. More often already active, they are in a difficult material and personal situation, and declare themselves unhappy. These may have voted for the extremes or abstained, but they are for radical, revolutionary change, including the use of violence.
SHE. There is also another youth, totally disengaged this time, which represents a quarter of this age group…
OG Yes, these are young people with very few qualifications, from families with little cultural capital, living in the countryside or in small towns. At home, we don’t talk about social issues, they don’t interest them. Invisible too, they live away from public debate.
SHE. Finally, you called the fourth group, a very small minority, which represents 13%, the « transgressive integrated »…
OG With few qualifications, they generally have a job, are often members of associations and are very attached to a territory, most often suburbs or priority neighborhoods for city policy. They adhere to a transgressive culture, justify delinquency, the use of violence more than the others… Boys are over-represented in this fourth group, in particular those declaring themselves to be of Muslim faith or of foreign origin. More than the others, 65% of them consider their country to be structurally racist. They also believe that they live in a society that is hostile to them, also with a very strong feeling of relegation.
SHE. For all of you, what would be the most urgent measures to be implemented by the new government?
OG The priority is the school: tackling school failure, which is still very important, setting up an effective and chosen professional orientation, and no longer suffered. In the different areas of social and ethnic segregation, we could also promote residential mobility for these many young people from the neighborhoods who want to succeed. They should be helped to move around so that they can find training or jobs elsewhere.
SHE. In your opinion, what could better reconnect all 18-24 year olds to society?
OG Internet and pop culture do not unify them, their references are very fragmented, sometimes split, it is a mistake to imagine that they all look at the same thing. Here again, the school must train these citizens. Perhaps by relaunching moral and civic education in a less abstract, more dynamic way, by having them discussed. And by teaching them to make good use of the Internet and to sharpen their critical sense.
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