Belarus after the elections: the role of youth in politics

Many observers consider the Belarusian parliamentary elections,
which took place on 17 November 2019, a step backwards in terms of
democratic standards. Although nobody had expected fundamental
political change, it is noteworthy that unlike in previous
parliamentary elections no real opposition candidate managed to win
a mandate. Even the symbolic pluralism has disappeared from the
parliamentary scene. However, below the level of official politics,
Belarusian society is changing. Youth as a symbolic category and as
a political actor has become more important in the official
discourse. President Lukashenka’s regime is aware of the
significance of youth as a source of legitimation and actively
tries to co-opt young people through state-sponsored youth
organisations. How do political stability and societal change go
hand in hand? What role does youth play in the political discourse?
What can we expect to happen in the run-up to the presidential
elections in 2020? Political scientists Maryia Rohava (University
of Oslo), Félix Krawatzek (ZOiS) and Gwendolyn Sasse (ZOiS) shed
light on these issues. (Music: “Complete” by Modul is licensed
under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0-License.)