Paper short abstract:

Basque oral improvisation is now related to youth culture, and young people can integrate youth and Basque identity in this community of Practice. And this co-construction of their identity leads, among other things, to proactive linguistic behaviors.

Paper long abstract:

The oral improvisation -or bertsolaritza- is now being recovered in the Northern Basque Country (NBC). A practice that was considered as old fashioned and that has almost disappeared in this area is now blooming again. The first attempts to tach bertsolaritza in the NBC were made in the 90's. These workshops proliferated, and some young improvisers started to improvise in public in the early 2000s. Nowadays, bertsolaritza is being taught to young people by young people. Hence, the Basque-speaking youth is more and more fans of bertsolaritza whereas the generation of their parents was not, when they were young, and bertsolaritza is now paradoxically related to youth culture.

The oral improvisers have been seen for decades as the guardians of the language as much as the transmitters of the people's voice, facing the authority. And this symbolic role is still maintained. The new young improvisers identify themselves as agents of social change as much as agents of the recovery of Basque language, and they find in the social sphere of bertsolaritza a Community of Practice where they can integrate youth and Basque identity. And this co-construction of their identity leads, among other things, to proactive linguistic behaviors.

This work is based on an ethnographic research. For five years I have been looking into linguistic practices and identities of young improvisers in the NBC, through participant observation and in-depth interviews (15 speakers between 15 and 20 years old).

Paper short abstract:

In Latvia there are two kinds of "folk dance" - the "traditional" one and stage folk dance, which was formed in Soviet times. Nowadays youth dance more stage folk dance. The aim of this paper is to show, what thought youth in Soviet times about stage folk dance, and what young people think nowadays.

Paper long abstract:

In Latvia there are two kinds of "folk dance". The "traditional" one, which is a social dance, part of the everyday life and festivities of the society, the dances which has unknown author, where there is no standardized movement and everyone can participate. And stage folk dance, which was created in Soviet times - all movements, costumes, face expressions were standardized and they were mainly danced by the young people, because it represented the vitality of the soviet society.

Nowadays the stage folk dances have changed, but some part of the "soviet intonation" has remained. Many young people have been participating in dance groups all around Latvia that dances stage folk dance. It is a very popular form of folk art among youth. Every 5 years there are Song and Dance festival, where dance groups want to participate. To gain an opportunity to participate in this festival dance groups have to go through a contest process - only best dance groups can be part of it.

The aim of this paper is to show, what thought youth in Soviet times about that kind of dancing. And what young people think nowadays, when they go to rehearsals few times a week, dance in concerts more than one time a month. Many of them don't go to party's with friends because they have dance rehearsals. What is "folk dance" in their eyes?

Paper short abstract:

In the 1930's youth in Latvian 4H movement were invited to collect and send folklore materials to the Archives of Latvian Folklore. These materials contain a wide range of folklore genres and shows how interested the youth were in collecting folklore materials.

Paper long abstract:

The 4H movement as a rural youth organization was established in the 19th century in the USA. In Latvia this organization was established in the 1929 and flourished in the middle of 1930's during the authoritarian regime. During this time nationalism was embraced in Latvia and Latvian 4H was part of this ideology. The organization was terminated in the Soviet times, but was renewed at the end of the 20th century.

In the 1930's youth in Latvian 4H movement were invited to collect and send folklore materials to the Archives of Latvian Folklore. Before this in the 1920's and 1930's the school children were also invited to send in folklore materials, but since it often was connected to the lessons in many cases this was mandatory. Although for the Latvian 4H the invitation came with a questioner about specific genres, the answers were voluntary.

The research of these materials shows how many young people from this organization were taking part in collecting folklore, what folklore genres the youth were most interested in, what are other expressions that they chose to put in these materials. In this paper I will discuss not only the folklore materials collected by Latvian 4H but also the changes in one organization in different political regimes.

Paper short abstract:

PhD studies graduates usually face necessity to become mobile and apply on many post-doc positions. I would like to present how this forced mobility is valorized, how young academics approach and negotiate its spatial and temporal aspects and how it influences their perceived sense of stability

Paper long abstract:

Modern academia had undergone transformations that pushed it towards neoliberal model of management, which affected mostly ones at the beginning of an academic career. Young academics usually face necessity to apply on post-doc position to many universities and research institutes. Low number of opened positions virtually precludes applying only to home university or within one country. Perspective of such forced mobility and awareness of short-term contracts are major decision factors when choosing one's career path. While changing place is being perceived as a chance to gain experience, professional development or improving one's social status, such huge change in life also may lead to disturbance of sense of stability - not only in economic sense, but also connected with social relations and academic freedom within neoliberal academia. Moreover young academics live under constant pressure of being evaluated and getting enough points for future applications, in fear of being stuck in a state of constant rejections. This leads to negotiations of ways in which they wish to experience being in academia, especially in context of mobility - influencing decisions relating places they apply or how many years are to be spent in a state of academic precarity., Even if in neoliberal understanding academic mobility is positively valorized, some choose to become immobile, which allows to maintain relations not mediated digitally. I would like to present how this perspective of forced mobility is valorised and approached by young academics from physics and mathematics, based on a multi-sited research I have carried out.

Paper short abstract:

The paper gives an insight of the autobiographical collection that aims to capture, reflect and promote tradition of self-documentation in Latvia also allowing me to reflect about young folklorist role studying seemingly unconventional material and my unplanned journey as folklorist so far.

Paper long abstract:

At elementary school or gymnasium I had never been told about career choices in folklore studies, therefore in my mind it has never been an option. Choice to study at academia in bachelor's program called "Traditional Culture and Latvian Folklore" was more guided by intuition rather than serious consideration and therefore, what I knew about folklorists and their scientific interests, in my consciousness was visualized stereotypically - as old women with white scarves on their heads who only sing one folk song after another. During my studies, I found that folklore is a broad concept, which is well-connected with other humanities and social sciences, easily sharing research methods and theories. Parallel to my studies I began to work at the Archives of Latvian Folklore. Here I was given the opportunity to observe what research topics folklorists choose and to realize that the potential field for studies, again, goes wider. When I started to study anthropology, the field continued to expand further. Encouraged by the possibilities, in 2018 I joined the project team as assistant to study autobiographical materials. The core of the project was formed by historian, literary scholar and folklorist who all where passionate about their research interests and that's way were really inspiring. Who would think that folklorist can be easily interested in capturing, reflecting and promoting the tradition of self-documentation? This experience had given me an opportunity to reflect about role of the young folklorist studying seemingly unconventional material and my unplanned journey as folklorist so far.

Paper short abstract:

We want to refuse the concept "NEET" and propose the concept "No NEET" when referring to young people with irregular trajectories in order to emphasize their active role within society since the informants were not apathetic and passive but active and committed to socially contribute to society.

Paper long abstract:

The economic crisis in Spain has led to a significant increase in youth

unemployment rate. At the same time, the Spanish Media started to use the label "NEET" to refer to

those young people who neither studied nor worked, implying that they were the only

responsible for their situation since they were too idle to get a job.

We wanted to discuss the concept "NEET" and see how young people from vulnerable

backgrounds with irregular trajectories do cope with their lives and socially participate through

youth organisations. We have conducted 21 interviews with young people who have had irregular trajectories in the past 2 years but at the

present moment they were actively participating and taking responsibilities in a youth

organization. This stigma, as well as others we have detected ('too alternative' for young people

fighting the system and 'migrants' for immigrants), made them feel a bit outsiders and,

sometimes, led them to drug use. However, the youngsters declared they have learnt a

lot after getting involved in those

organisations, and those learnings empowered them to build their own projects. They also

pointed another key element: the opportunity of building a relationship with someone else

helped them overcome difficult situations.

The results obtained led us us refuse the concept "NEET" and propose the concept "No NEET"

when referring to young people with irregular trajectories in order to emphasize their active

role within society since the informants were not apathetic and passive but active and

committed to socially contribute to society.

Paper short abstract:

In this paper I analyse media representations of youth culture and the phenomenon of extended adolescence in the context of post-socialist Serbia.

Paper long abstract:

The paper analyses Morning Changes Everything, a Serbian television series that debuted in the fall of 2018. It is a story about the everyday lives of Belgraders in their 30s who have finished their education but who still have not started a family or found a permanent job. In other words, this TV series represents the prolonged transition to adulthood of four main characters living in a transitional society. Morning Changes Everything depicts the various problems young people face in the context of post-socialist Serbia, notably the loss of stability and opportunities, inability to find permanent employment, move out of parental households and gain independence, and the dilemma of whether to emigrate from Serbia or to stay. The paper examines how this series portrays youth culture (and the phenomenon of extended adolescence) and how the process of becoming an adult is conceptualized in Serbian popular culture, especially in regard to the structural and cultural changes in Serbian society over the last three decades.

Paper short abstract:

The young people opposing the construction of a high-speed railway in Northern Italy are widely stigmatised by the national media as violent and anti-progress. Nonetheless, the practices they engage in aim at strengthening an enlarged idea of community, thus interpreting instances of social change.

Paper long abstract:

This paper presents the findings of an ethnographic research carried out amongst the young activists of the No Tav social movement in Italy. Despite being strongly stigmatised by the mainstream media and the national authorities as highly conflictual youth, they engage positively in society and they become interpreters of instances of social change. The hypothesis that lies behind our research is that the young activists, despite the strong stigmatisation they are subjected to, succeed in interpreting instances of social change by borrowing from the overall movement they belong to the key features that allow them to turn stigma into a positive value. Our theory is that the intergenerational dimension is key to the innovation process the young activists are bringing about. Through the conscious adhesion to the community and the relationship of trust and solidarity established with its members and particularly with the elderly, the young activists are able to convey their innovative potential. They convert such potential into practices that point at consciously boosting a social change, with a view to gradually investing not only in their individual lives but that of an entire community - a community whose boundaries start in the local Alpine Valley but stretch out to reach national and even European ones.

Paper short abstract:

This paper traces the challenges young (neo-)Muslim women face in European Societies in the light of Islamophobia and stigmatisation and the practices they employ to (re-)claim agency. Based on fieldwork among young women in Germany, we explore hijab-wearing as a social practice of identity.

Paper long abstract:

Post-migrant young Muslims constitute sizable minorities in many European countries. In recent years a new type of young Muslim woman has emerged: the so-called neo-Muslim (Sigrid Nökel 'Die Töchter der Gastarbeiter', 2002). This describes young women who have 'returned' to religious practices and dress codes while at the same time pursuing high educational aspirations and demanding equal participation in society. They are holders of 'hybrid' 'this as well as that' identities, which transcend dichotomous either-or identity constructions (Naika Foroutan: 'Hybride Identitäten', 2013; Stuart Hall: 'Who needs identity', 1996). Their conscious decision to wear the Muslim headscarf represents an affirmation of the (neo-)Muslim side of their identity.

However, their multiple affiliations are perceived as mutually exclusive identity categories in particular by the so-called 'majority society'. The young women experience multiple discrimination and stigmatization on the basis of their clothing practice and ensuing gendered and racialized ascriptions. Stereotypical assumptions of an essentialised Muslim identity and Islamophobic discourses affect their experiences in schools, on entering the job market and in everyday interactions.

This paper explores the wearing of the headscarf as a social practice of identity of young women. We investigate how the young women react to both experienced and anticipated discrimination and the practices they employ to (re-)claim agency. We draw on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth qualitative interviews with 15 young devout Muslim women in Germany during a Horizon 2020 project on the social participation of conflicted youth in Europe (PROMISE - Promoting Youth Involvement and Social Engagement, Grant Agreement no. 693221).