Youth and Religion: Belonging, Believing and Participating
Youth and Religion: Belonging, Believing and Participating

Summary/Abstract: This paper is based on the findings of the MYPLCAE (Memory, Youth, Political Legacy and Civic Engagement) European research project. Among qualitative and quantitative studies, a special attention was paid to specific religion-based groups in five countries (Greece, Portugal, Georgia, Latvia and Slovakia). These ethnographic studies took place in each country and include almost all major religions (Christianity-Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Islam and Buddhism) and were based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews. In this paper I am going to present the findings from these ethnographic case-studies following meta-ethnography, using common concepts as an analytical tool and trying to cluster possible similarities and differences. The basic purpose of this paper is to reflect on young people’s religiosity and social participation and activism and the main questions that I will try to answer based on the existing data are the following: Which is the role of religion and religious values in the lives of young people? And in which types of activism are young people involved in and what does this participation mean to them?

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