The interaction and relationship between consecutive generations is seldom a neutral process. It always involves a process of domination and contestation between the generations where the manifestations of the power relations are both explicit and implicit in their nature. Taking this assumption as a premise this paper attempts to examine the relationship between youth and politics across the historical trajectories of Ethiopian politics since the 1974 revolution. The way youth is understood, socialized and integrated into the political scene and their interplay with the older generation until the present time is the main focus of the study. This paper explains how politics is perceived and practiced among the youth and the role of the intergenerational interaction towards this. It is strongly argued that the influence of the older generation particularly in the ruling party of Ethiopia creates a new meaning of politics for the youth. The findings show that politics become a system of creating opportunities and benefits and a structure where young people become significant in numbers rather than in their ‘youthful’ insights and thoughts.

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Herrera, Linda
hdl.handle.net/2105/6512
Children and Youth Studies (CYS)
International Institute of Social Studies

Gebremariam, Eyob Balcha. (2009, January). Youth and Politics in Post 1974 Ethiopia: Intergenerational Analysis. Children and Youth Studies (CYS). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/6512