The Contemporary Engagement of Young People in France: Normative Injunctions, Institutional Programs, and the Multiplying Forms of Grouping

 The essay deals with the new injunctions coming from the political world as a result of a widely shared feeling that makes us see younger generations as prone to egoism and indifferent to the plight of others, which would inevitably cause the young to display no interest in things public. These haunting claims about the alarming civic apathy come from a generation for whom engagement meant duration, steadiness, and devotion to some group defending general interests, and who took their personal success within these organization the ideal type of militancy. On the other hand, these invitations to take part to social life are caused by the ancient fear of extreme and violent forms of occupying the public space – during riots and other forms of urban violence, rallies and manifestations, etc. Therefore, such invitations point to the necessity to channel the inclination to protest by the young, and to transform it into positive energy for participation by means of institutional programs controlled by the adult world. The article is focussed upon some of these numerous plans, that have been recently established and / or rearranged, insisting both on the philosophies underpinning them and on what capacities and abilities they require of the young. In order to do this, it will be necessary to indicate the social conditions that have allowed this appeal to engagement to emerge. These plans are part of a slow transformation of the place of youth in France, but also of public policy, of the definition of citizenship, and – last but not least – of the role attributed to civil society.