"This is Political to me": Young People's Perceptions on Politics

The purpose of this article is to examine how young activists build their narratives about the idea of the political, based on their memory, before and after they become politically engaged. Specifically, I compare activists involved in eight diverse political and social groups based in Switzerland. Although activist differ in several key aspects, such as political positioning, ideological beliefs, organizational matters concerning the association/movement/party itself, I argue that the narrative’s tensions that activists remember of the political are similar. Through this analysis, I aim to contribute to the literature on young people's political engagement by unveiling how young activists conceive what is political, as subjectively understood, and how their political narratives can help them making sense of their activism.