Croatian youth on politics and society: legacy of war in Croatia, disputes about democracy and possibilities for radicalism

The young have always been one of the best indicators of social change and frequently the force driving it. We aim to introduce the results of a recently finished research on the MYPLACE project for Croatia analysing the historical and cultural contextualization of young people's political heritage and social participation. MYPLACE (Memory, Youth, Political Legacy and Civic Engagement) is a FP7 European comparative project which explores how young people's social consciousness is shaped by the shadows (past, present and future) of totalitarianism and populism in Europe. The research is composed of a social survey drawing upon the sample made of 1216 individuals between 16 and 25 years and a qualitative analysis of 61 in-depth interviews. The research is focused on the generation which grew up in a time of a political, social and economic transition and whose historical memory of totalitarianism, the breakup of Yugoslavia and the Balkan wars is almost solely transmitted memory. That generation faces an unsecure future in Croatia today, with the third greatest youth unemployment rate in the EU and economy without recovery in sight. It is well known that this can push people to a greater susceptibility to radical politics and that younger people without much political experience and historical knowledge are a vulnerable group. We aim to present the findings on the legacy of some of the crucial points of political heritage – socialism and the war in Croatia, as well as opinions and disputes on democracy in Croatia today and the susceptibility to radical politics.