Young People, ICTs and Democracy: Theories, Policies, Identities, and Websites

The rhetoric on the Internete and its potential implications for the sphere of politics have been espicially pertinent in regard to young people. Through the use of notions such as "the e-generation" or "the messenger generation", the new ICT's supposed transformative potential has been identified and discussed. Just based on the title of this book, it might seem as if we are offering a similar approach here - speculative reflections on the significance of the Internet for young people's engagement and participation.

However, the reader expecting discussions on how the various generations of the Web have turned the political and democratic world upside down will be disappointed. What this book offers instead are theoretical reflections on the Internet's civic potential: analyses of policy concerns connected to its development, and elusive case studies of civic websites as well as young people's everyday Web practices. Basically, the chapters in this book seek to analyze rather than mythologize the Internet's political implications for young people.