'People Try to Put Us Down …': Participatory Citizenship of 'Generation X'

Abstract

This article evaluates the participatory citizenship of Australian young people. Its argument is that in the utilisation of empirical research 'contemporary citizenship needs to recognise what people actually do' (R. Prokhovnik, Feminist Review 60(2) 1998: 95). For this research, an alternative approach to the exploration of participation has been developed which questions the traditional, institutionalised measures of political participation and/or notions of civic engagement that do not look at a broad range of individual and organisational experiences. The article is based on a survey of 18-34-year-old Australians conducted via telephone, by Newspoll Market Research, in early 2001. The article shows that rather than 'Generation X' having homogeneous (or even negligible) participatory experiences, four distinct participatory typologies emerge. These four typologies are labelled as Activist, Communitarian, Party and Individualistic to reflect the clustered modes of participation. The article also explores the relationships between participation and the discussion of political and social issues.