Young citizens in South Africa: a paradox of engagement with politics and the media

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Periodical article

Title:	Young citizens in South Africa: a paradox of engagement with politics and the media
Authors:	Malila, Vanessa Oelofsen, Marietjie
Year:	2016
Periodical:	Journal of African Media Studies (ISSN 1751-7974)
Volume:	8
Issue:	2
Pages:	187-203
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	youth political participation mass media
External link:	http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/jams/2016/00000008/00000002/art00005
Abstract:	In 2014, South Africa's democracy turned 20. Just like the young democracy is learning to find its feet, young citizens are negotiating the unknown territory of full citizenship rights while confronting a 'totally different world than that of their parents'. Whether their parents were black and not entitled to full citizenship or whether their parents were white and therefore implicated in a system that withheld full citizenship from the majority of the population, young people do not have a template to draw on for meaning and form of citizenship in a new and liberated South Africa. This article examines political participation amongst young South Africans and their negotiated participation in both political and civic activities within the context of media use and consumption. Their paradoxical relationship with both politics and the media is detailed in an attempt to understand how to deepen a culture of meaningful citizenship amongst South African youth. Bibliogr., notes, sum. [Journal abstract]