For the second 2020 Qualidem seminar, Kristina Bakkaer Simonsen has come to UCLouvain to present a paper dealing with how politics feeds back and shape voting behaviour of young migrants. Her analyzes suggests that existing theories fall short in addressing the distinct political forces that shape citizens’ relationship to politics. Using interviews of minority and majority youths in Denmark, she shows that because they are targeted very differently in policy and political rhetoric, they have substantially different conceptions of politics and their own political identities. These findings challenge classical conceptualisation of political engagement and opens up a discussion about how to understand political behaviour in increakingly diverse societies.
Kristina Bakkær Simonsen (Aarhus University) presents her research in the the February edition of the QUALIDEM seminar