New forms of solidarity and young people: an ethnography of youth participation in Italy

The global and financial crisis, which began in 2008, is having an impact on a range of socio-political actions of Italian young people. Amongst other things, this is evident in the changes emerging in the nature of their civic and political engagement. This chapter proposes an analysis of three solidarity projects that started between 2010 and 2015 by leftist groups in the city of Bologna, Italy, looking at the re-actualisation of mutualistic practices of help as a means of political action. In so doing, the chapter considers two elements frequently underlined by the literature on youth participation and on social movements: the recent increase of young people's involvement in unconventional forms of engagement, and the return of certain forms of participation, inspired by mutualistic experiences of the past, as a possible answer to the effects of the crisis.