Abstract

This article analyzes young Italians’ social participation focusing on the relationship between social inclusion and civic and political engagement. Drawing on recent youth studies literature, it reflects on how young Italians’ social status has changed over the course of the last decade as the prolonged socio-economic marginalization that young people in Italy have experienced has catalyzed a series of changes in their practices and contents of engagement. As young Italians express a more systemic and intersectional critique of society through non-institutionalized practices of engagement, the article depicts the potential implications that young people’s claims and ideas for rethinking social inclusion. In so doing, the article seeks to recognize young Italians’ marginal position as a site for «radical openness» (bell hooks, 1989).