Youth demarginalisation strategies in Arab Mediterranean countries

Abstract

The delay in accessing adult social life suffered by young Arabs leaves them in an unusual social space in which they are neither children nor independent adults. They are at the "margins" of society. Nevertheless, this situation allows the generation of social opportunities and spaces for establishing and managing their own life plans, emancipation or alternative contemporaneities. If marginalisation means distance from hegemonic discourses, this chapter focuses on analysing the diverse routes the youth in Arab Mediterranean countries have developed to “escape” the economic, social and political marginalisation (demarginalisation strategies) imposed by the hegemonic adult-centrism of these societies. The results are extracted from analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data produced in the framework of the European SAHWA Project on young people in five Arab Mediterranean countries.

Keywords

• youth
• demarginalisation
• marginalisation
• Arab countries
• waithood