Native European youth in action? Participatory and communicative practices of Volt party

Fabrizia Pasciuto; Luca Raffini; Lucia D'Ambrosi; Mariaeugenia Parito; Roberto Berbeito

doi:10.14198/obets.32481

Autores/as

Fabrizia Pasciuto University of Enna “Kore”, Italia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7180-3906
Luca Raffini Università di Genova, Italia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0689-2316
Lucia D'Ambrosi Sapienza University of Rome, Italia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2105-2366
Mariaeugenia Parito University of Messina, Italia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0471-2024
Roberto Berbeito Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, España https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5132-3040

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14198/obets.32481

Palabras clave:

juventud, Unión Europea, partido, participación, esfera pública

Resumen

El artículo analiza el partido paneuropeo Volt en el contexto de los cambios políticos que rodearon las elecciones europeas de 2024. El análisis empírico se centra, en particular, en dos “capítulos nacionales”: el italiano y el español. Volt representa un ejemplo interesante del renovado protagonismo de los jóvenes europeos, como respuesta innovadora y resiliente a las múltiples crisis que enfrentan. Fue fundado por jóvenes, está dirigido por jóvenes y recibe en gran medida el voto de jóvenes.
Volt da voz a los “nativos europeos” y a los “nativos de la posdemocracia”, que han vivido su socialización política en un contexto de plena europeización de la vida cotidiana, pero también en un escenario de crisis múltiples, seguido por el auge de movimientos anti-europeos y populistas, frente a los cuales Volt se sitúa en las antípodas de manera expresa.
Tras enmarcar el nacimiento, la evolución y la organización de Volt, el artículo investiga los rasgos distintivos que lo definen: su fuerte orientación proeuropea, su carácter de partido-movimiento y su enfoque basado en la evidencia, así como su marcado perfil juvenil. La combinación de estos elementos confiere al proyecto una notable originalidad.
Concluimos que Volt es la expresión política de los europeos nativos, en particular de una élite (o, más bien, una vanguardia) de jóvenes universitarios, reformistas y pragmáticos, acostumbrados a interactuar en estructuras transnacionales y que conciben la Unión Europea como una esfera política y social que requiere una participación cotidiana específica, más allá de las perspectivas estrictamente nacionales.
De hecho, como partido paneuropeo, Volt promueve redes transnacionales de debate público como espacios alternativos y resilientes frente a los movimientos y prácticas contestatarias de la “democracia de los márgenes” (fringe democracy). También subrayamos las dificultades de pensar y actuar como partido paneuropeo en un contexto fuertemente enmarcado por organizaciones y dinámicas políticas de carácter nacional.

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