Being young and activist in the late era of Bouteflika: an emerging generation A study around some young activist in Oran

Abstract

There is almost a general consensus that the beginning of the new millennium was
marked by the advent of a new political actor in Algeria, which is the younger generations. Of
course, the scientific work on political activism in Algeria shows the existence of a low
participation of young people in so-called formal politics, however, they do not say much
about young people who favored being activist , nor on its alternative modes of engagement,
as well as the political impact of generational renewal that carries this age group. Based on
this finding, this article aims to fill this gap relatively and modestly by questioning how the
political and social activism of young people, combined with the great social and political
transformations of Algerian society, their socio-historical space and to their intergenerational
relations , promotes a new collective political and civic consciousness in the sense that these
young people end up by considering themselves as a distinct generation, able to influence
the society around them. In answering such a question, the article uses data drawn from a
forty semi-structured interviews around young activists in political parties; civil society
organizations; and social movements (implanted in Oran since the end of 2017 and until the
beginning of 2019). The analysis of the interviews showed that youth activism is mediated
and imbued with a deep social malaise that becomes a profile of its generational
identification. This malaise is multiform and takes three main dimensions which are : a socioeconomic malaise, a symbolic and intergenerational malaise