Hegel, subjectivity and youth

This article discusses how the constant pressure for young people to optimise themselves, to become the masters of their lives and to enjoy life to the full, instead of leading towards a new empowered citizenship, can also be experienced as an existential burden. It does so by engaging with the most recent research literature on youth studies concerning the agency/structure debate, which will be illustrated with results from a European project on youth participation. This literature will be discussed against the background of Hegelian philosophy, where it will be argued that structure is not as much a negative entity constraining people’s lives but a necessary feature of agency. The article finishes with a short exploration of Greta Thunberg’s political engagement, as an example of what universal politics could mean amidst a world permeated by identity politics.