Talk or Something More? - COVID-19 and Youth Discourses of Participation

Szabó, Andrea and Déri, András (2023) Talk or Something More? - COVID-19 and Youth Discourses of Participation. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH JOURNAL, 23 (5). pp. 485-500. ISSN 1443-9883

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Abstract

Purpose Political participation of young people has been examined, but there is a lack of research about how these participation forms are interpreted and what counts as participation for young people. The study aims to identify discourses of political participation in Hungary, where the COVID-19 restrictions during 2020–2021 have confined young people's everyday interactions and political activism to the online space for an extended period. The authors’ asteroid-effect hypothesis suggests that new discourses of political participation have become more widespread, which may have reinterpreted the previous dynamics between online and offline participation. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyse the results of six focus groups and eight interviews with young people conducted between 2021–2022 through discourse analysis. Findings The qualitative results show that to intellectualise the everyday discourses of youth political participation, extending its classical theories is worthwhile. While online participation has not emerged as a paramount, positive interpretational framework, a new discourse of political participation has emerged, making conversation a fundamental act. Originality/value While the results are limited to Hungarian youth, the strong appearance of participation as a communicative action can have consequences to theoretical approaches of political participation. The authors believe that COVID-19 restrictions had a significant role in this change, because family talks became more politicised.

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