Pushing for Change: Youth and Political Participation concerns about perceived violation of human rights or environmental protection rules. There is a history of young people engaging in consumer boycotts to pressure companies into adopting fair practices. In recent years, young activists have increasingly used boycotts (punishing business for unfavourable behaviour) and ‘buycotts’ (rewarding business for favourable behaviour) to promote their political agendas.47 ‘Voting-with-your-trolley’,48 as the latter form of participation has been termed, is becoming increasingly popular as a way to promote organic food and environment-friendly products. Although evidence on the effectiveness of political consumerism is mixed and dependent on a host of socio-political and economic factors,49 it has clearly emerged as an important form of political participation among young people. Besides getting involved in protests and campaigns, young people are also increasingly turning to nongovernmental and civil society organisations, which for many are providing an alternative and often values-based path to activism or participation.50 Although NGOs have facilitated young people’s participation in ‘low politics’ and informal spheres, their impact on changing the culture of youth participation at the local level remains quite limited.51 Some commentators have argued that by filling the vacuum created by a retreating or unresponsive state, NGOs often diffuse the disaffection of young people, diminishing the prospects of a grassroots movement emerging to fight for social change.52 Young people’s involvement in protests and campaigns are a testament to the fact that they are as socially conscious and politically active today as they have ever been. The big difference today is that they are more willing to bypass formal structures in order to instigate meaningful social change. 3.5  Youth participation in the digital age It is almost impossible for many people who are young today to imagine a world without the internet, so integral has it become to people’s lives. Never before has a generation been as connected or well-informed – a watershed with profound implications for young people and the rest of the world. The widespread use of mobile phones, the technological prowess of the ‘digital native’ generation and the growing popularity and ‘network effect’ of social media, in combination, have given a fillip to youth participation in civic and political affairs. By making it easier to access information and ideas, and mobilise people, ICTs are empowering young people and neutralising the ‘information asymmetry’ of yesteryear. There is enough evidence to suggest that the use of social media increases youth participation in civic and political life, especially in mature democracies.53 Young people are using social media to express their opinion, participate in campaigns and organise protests. Empirical evidence for the positive impact of ICTs is the strongest for civic engagement. In countries where freedom of association and assembly are constrained and traditional media are censored, the role of social media is particularly critical in providing space to young people to express their opinion and mobilise support for their cause.54 In the protest movements that rippled across the Middle East a few years ago – dubbed the ‘Arab Spring’ by many commentators – social media provided a platform for individuals to voice their concerns and seek strength in numbers that eventually removed the fear of a repressive state in their minds and galvanised them into taking direct action.55 The relationship between access to ICTs and youth participation is not straightforward, however. First, not all young people have access to ICTs or the skills to capitalise on them. This is elaborated on further in the section ‘Inequality in youth participation’ below. Also, while there is evidence of a positive correlation between use of social media and increased participation, the evidence of a causal link is unclear. To pick an example, social media may not be the reason why young people resort to protest in the first place, but research indicates that technology helps their agitation pick up steam quickly in certain circumstances, for instance, in countries that have large youth bulges.56 Similarly, even decent access to ICTs is unlikely to spur political participation for those young people who think that their involvement will not make a difference.57 In addition, the jury is still out whether the effect of social media campaigning on participation is truly transformational. Evidence suggests that the greater use of digital technologies is unlikely to improve significantly youth engagement in formal political structures and processes such as participation in election campaigns or voting.58 Instead, most of the engagement in the digital space takes place in the ‘low’ or informal spheres of politics.59 Engagement through social media can be tokenistic, failing to bring about the desired \ 75