The project has addressed a number of theoretical and empirical issues in youth transitions to adulthood, youth involvement in illegal political activities, social movements' strategies of political action and intergenerational relationships.
Deploying a multidisciplinary perspective of analysis and combining insights from different methodological approaches, Youthblocs has gone beyond the traditional analyses on political illegal behaviours, highlighting the complex and articulated role these actions have in contemporary young people's ways of expressing their presence in society. While research to date has often understood young people's adoption of this kind of political behaviours as just a troublesome for society or as a form of transitory rebellion that does not have real political implications, Youthblocs' in-depth approach of analysis has allowed, first of all, to underlined how illegal political actions are often integrated in a broader repertory of engagement and how these practices' goals are more 'constructive' than 'disruptive'.
In most of the cases, young people interpret illegal political actions has a necessary step one has to consider in order to start and foster societal change. Illegal political actions - such as occupation of buildings, riots, street blockades, vandalism, and different forms of civic disobedience - are, in fact, seen an integral part of a broader political strategy of action that can include also very conventional forms of involvement (i.e. standing for election, petitioning, volunteering).
The use of an intergenerational perspective of analysis has allowed to underline how young people and adults co-construct their meaning and practices of participation engaging in mutual processes of socialisation, questioning existing understanding of illegal political actions as temporary political behaviours associated exclusively to the coming-of-age phase. Lastly, the international comparison carried out between two cities in Italy and Sweden has allowed to shed light on the connection between the development and use of certain kinds of political behaviours and the specific conditions of life that young people experience in contemporary Western societies, linking their political action to the economic crisis and the processes of restructuring of welfare state in Europe.
In so doing, the project has contributed not only to problematize existing discourses on younger generations' political disinterest and disengagement, but also to foster a debate on the concepts of 'political radicalisation' and 'unconventional' political participation. Giving voice and visibility to young people and their actions, Youthblocs has gone beyond the 'surface' of these terms showing the potential for participation and societal change that these behaviours can entail.
In terms of societal impact and implications, we expect that Youthblocs contributes to challenge existing discourses on young people's role as political actors in contemporary Western societies, fostering a change in the way adults and institutions understand and deal with young people's more controversial forms of participation.
