The alienation and radicalisation of youth: a ‘new moral panic’?

Grattan, Alan (2008) The alienation and radicalisation of youth: a ‘new moral panic’? 8th International Conference on Diversity, Montreal, Canada. 16 - 19 Jun 2008. pp. 253-263 .

Abstract

With recent government(s) concern and media ‘amplification’ of the increase in youth violence and, especially, relating to young people being ‘groomed’ to carry out ‘terrorist’ attacks, this paper will explore the ‘dialectic’ relationship between global and local structures and how recent developments at each level have contributed to the increased alienation of youth. Using the notion of negative counter modernisation responses and developing Berezin’s(2002) concept of ‘community of feelings’ there will be an examination of the relationship between alienation and ‘radicalisation’ amongst young people and how this is expressed within an ‘ideologically’ fragmented world. While ‘globally’ the world is deemed to be increasingly ‘interdependent’, ‘locally’ it is becoming increasingly diverse, paradoxically, in many situations this brings with it community tensions, division and segregation. For many young people within such environments there develops for them a ‘contradictory consciousness’ which often results in conflict and violence against the perceived ‘other’ in ‘defence’ of community, identity, culture and/or way of life. Given that young people are deemed to be both ‘victims and perpetrators’ of acts of violence this paper will ask whether, or why, locally, nationally or internationally young people represent a real threat to societal processes or is this simply a ‘new’ or contemporary ‘moral panic’?

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