Young activists in political squats. Mixing engagement and leisure

The aim of the article is to show that youth involvement in political groups is often driven by such multifaceted motivations that it is relegated to the border between engagement and leisure. Focussing on the European context, research about youth and politics often highlights that few young people are personally involved in political forms of action. In most studies, this involvement is interpreted as the actualisation of a set of values, through their translation into specific aims and means, on the basis of correspondent wider worldviews, that is, representations of society and human beings. Such an interpretative approach is challenged on the basis of the results of research conducted in Italy through qualitative interviews with young activists involved in political squats. Through an in-depth analysis of young activists’ narratives, it is suggested that youth involvement in political groups often represents partly, or even mainly, a form of leisure connected with variegated sensitivities and tastes at least partially external to perspectives of political engagement, and conversely connected with personal satisfaction and fulfilment.