Young People and Political Participation: European Research 217 Young People and Political Participation:
European Research
Young People and Political Participation: European Research 219
CONTRIBUTORS
Contributors
Jorge BENEDICTO
Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology II at the UNED. He is
a member of the Research Group about Society and Politics (UCM-UNED). Director of the Postgraduate Degree in Youth and Society of the UNED.
His research themes focus on the study of political culture, social dynamics of today’s citizenship and the socio-political analysis of youth. During the last
few years he has carried out, together with Maria Luz Morán, a wide research programme about the development of citizenship among young people.
Recent publications include: “Cultural Structures and Political Life. The Cultural Matrix of Democracy in Spain”, European Journal of Political
Research 43 (3), 2004; “¿Hacia una política participativa?”, Zona Abierta 106-107, 2004; Aprendiendo a ser ciudadanos (INJUVE 2003); “El
protagonismo cívico de los jóvenes: autonomía, participación y ciudadanía”, Documentación Social nº 139, 2006; “La construcción de la ciudadanía
democrática en España (1977-2004)”, Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas nº 114, 2006; “Becoming a Citizen. Analysing the Social
Representations of Citizenship in Youth”, European Societies 9 (4), 2007.
Marco BONTEMPI
Professor in Sociology at the Department of Political Science “Cesare Alfieri”, University of Florence. Since many years his research focuses on the
sociological analysis of the symbolic and cultural aspects of social change, from a theoretical perspective and through empirical researches that focus,
above all, on the study of youth identity and the relations between generations in Italy and some other countries of the European Union.
Recent publication include: “Individualización y transformación de las identidades religiosas y de la cultura política: una perspectiva comparada” in
Sistema, n.197-198, mayo, 2007; “Viajeros sin mapa. Construcción de la juventud y recorridos de la autonomía juvenil en la Unión europea” in Revista
de estudios de juventud, edición especial Jóvenes, Constitución y cultura democrática, december, 2003; “Autrement modernes. Jeunes et participation
politique au sud de la méditerranée” in Breviglieri M. et Cicchelli V. (éditors), Adolescences Méditerranéennes. L’espace public à petits pas, Paris,
Agora-Injep/L’Harmattan, 2008; “Expérimenter la citoyenneté: nouvelles formes d’engagement des jeunes?” en Galland, O., Cavalli, A. y Cicchelli, V. (dir.)
France et Italie : Deux pays, deux jeunesses ?, Rennes, P.U.R.(en prensa) ; (con G. Bettin,) (a cura di), Generazione Erasmus? L’identità europea tra
vissuto e istituzioni, Firenze, Firenze University Press, 2008.
Wolfgang GAISER, Dr. rer. soc, sociologist , Martina GILLE, sociologist,
Johann DE RIJKE,sociologist, Sabine SARDEI-BIERMANN, Dr. rer. pol, sociologist.
Scientific researchers at the German youth institute (DJI, Munich, Germany). Publications:Youth and Democracy in Germany. Journal of Youth Studies,
Vol. 6, No. 3, Sept. 2003, p. 295-317. (2006): Culture politique des jeunes
Allemands. AGORA débats/jeunesses, no 40 – 2e trimestre 2006, p. 90-106 (2006): Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene in Deutschland.
Lebensverhältnisse, Werte und gesellschaftliche Beteiligung 12- bis 29-Jähriger. Schriften des Deutschen Jugendinstituts: Jugendsurvey 3,
Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. (2007): Changes in the political culture of young Eastern and Western Germans between 1992 and
2003. Results of the DJI Youth Survey. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, Vol. 15, No 3, p. 287-302. (2007): Political Participation of Youth –
Young Germans in the European Context.Asia Europa Journal, special Edition: Youth in Asia and Europe, Vol. 5, No 4, pp. 541-555 (online:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/h2035p77l0844670/)
Gema M. GARCÍA-ALBACETE
Political scientist (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Diploma in Advanced
Studies (2004). Researcher at the Department of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Germany. Works at the Centre for Doctoral Studies in Social
Sciences and Behaviour, University of Mannheim. Her research focuses on political engagement of European citizens and the existence of possible
generational changes.
Her main areas of interest are education in values, development of social identities and social research methods.
She also worked as a researcher in two international projects: “Religiosidad,
Ideología y Voto” (funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education) and “Orientations of Young Men and Women to Citizenship and European
Identity” funded by the European Commission. She also stayed as a researcher at the London School of Economics and the Central European
University in Hungary. She completed her training in several social research methods at the University of Essex and the University of Köln.
Antonio M. JAIME CASTILLO
Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology, University of
Granada, and researcher at the Centre of Andalusian Researches. Dr. rer. soc.,
sociologist, political scientist, degree in law. Stays in different research centres, like the Norwegian Social Science Data Service (University of
Bergen), the Zentral Archiv (University of Köln), the University of Michigan and the University of Indiana. His main fields of research are Sociology of
Politics, Economic Sociology and Quantitative Research Methods. Recent publication include: “Préférences pour la Redistribution dans l’Europe.
Inégalité Sociale, Etat-Providence et Dispositions Fiscales” (Pole Sud, 2008) and “Atribución de la Responsabilidad y Voto Económico. El caso de España”
(Trimestre Económico, 2007).
Andreu LÓPEZ BLASCO
Dr. rer. soc, sociologist (University of Munich) and political scientist
(Universidad Complutense de Madrid). Researcher at the German Youth Institute in Munich, and lecturer at the Department of Social and
Economic Sciences, Technical University of Munich, and at the University of Valencia. He had political responsibilities on local, regional and national
level in Spain. Member of the European research network EGRIS (European Group for Integrated Social Research); since 1996 Head of
Research of AREA, focusing on family and youth in the European Union. Recent publications include: (2007) ¿Qué necesitamos saber de la
“juventud inmigrante”? Apuntes para la investigación y la política, in:
López Sala, A. & Cachón , L. Juventud e Inmigración. Gobierno de Canarias; (2007) coordination of the monographic issue “Jóvenes y
constelaciones de desventaja en Europa”-Revista de Estudios de Juventud nº 77; (2006) “La familia como respuesta a las demandas de
individualización: ambivalencia y contradicciones”, Papers Revista de Sociología nº 79; (2006) “Transitar hacia la edad adulta: constelaciones de
desventaja de los jóvenes españoles en perspectiva comparada. Una Proyección hacia el futuro”, Panorama Social: nº 3.; (2005) Informe
Juventud en España 2004 (with other authors); (2003) Contradictions of Inclusion: towards Integrated Transition Policies in Europe.(with McNeish,
W. and Walther, A. (eds.) Bristol: Policy Press.
Araceli MATEOS DÍAZ
Dr. rer. pol, lecturer at the University of Salamanca. Her main areas of research are methodology, electoral behaviour and political attitudes. Her
recent publications are related to youth, and she is co-author, with Felix Moral, of the following texts published by the INJUVE: Comportamiento
electoral de los jóvenes españoles(2006), and El cambio en las actitudes y los valores de los jóvenes(2002) Madrid: INJUVE.
Anne MUXEL
Sociologist and political scientist, Head of Research at the CEVIPOF (Centre
for Political Researches Sciences Po). Her main fields of research are issues related to the development of social and political identities. She has
coordinated numerous studies about the development of political attitudes and behaviours, about political socialization during youth and about the
relation between youth and politics, especially through comparative analyses on a European level. Besides, she has carried out several studies about
electoral analysis, mainly focusing on the meanings of abstention. Her activities also include analyses about intergenerational transmission and
development of individual and collective memories.
She has published numerous articles and books. Her publications include Individu et mémoire familiale(1996) published in Nathan, Les jeunes et la
politique(1996) in Hachette, L’expérience politique des jeunes (2001) in Presses de Sciences Po, Les jeunes d’Europe du sud et la politique. Une
enquête comparative France, Italie, Espagne (with M.Cacouault, 2001) in the Editions L’Harmattan, y Les étudiants de Sciences Po. Leurs idées,
leurs valeurs, leurs cultures politiques (dir.) (2004) in Presses de Sciences Po.
Reingard SPANNRING
Sociologist, has worked as researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies,
Vienna, and as scientific manager of and researcher at the Austrian Institute for Youth Research, Vienna. Since 2006 she is lecturer and researcher at the
Institute for Educational Sciences, Leopold Franzens University of Innsbruck, Austria. She has been involved in various international research projects
including “Youth – actor of social change” (2006-2008), “Disadvantaged Youth and Political Strategies. A European Comparison” (2005), “Youth and
Political Participation – EUYOUPART” (2002-2005) and “Youth and European Identity” (2001-2004). Her main areas of research relate to
political participation, transitions of young people from school to work as well as non-formal and informal learning.
Martha WÖRSCHING
Lecturer in German and European Studies at the Department of Politics, International Relations and European Studies, Loughborough University, UK.
She has been a member of the editorial board of the Journal of
Contemporary European Studies and its reviews editor for many years. Her
main publications are in the area of cultural, media and gender studies as well as youth and sports studies.
Her most recent publication is ‘Race to the Top: Masculinity, Sport and Nature in German Magazine Advertising’ in Men and Masculinities, volume 10,
