The conference brings together a series of international researchers who examine youth policies within institutional structures and at the state level in six South and East Mediterranean countries (Tunisia, Morocco, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey). It sheds light on the politics of youth policies, sociological and economic obstacles to becoming "adults", and questions the historical turn after the 2011 "Arab Spring". Youth policies are examined at a macro-level in the areas of employment, family, migration and spatial planning in an attempt to understand the emergence of youth as a category, oftentimes identified with a public problem. The question of how various forms of marginalization and domination such as gender, social, urban/rural, ethnic, based on citizenship, etc. intersect and generate inequalities among youth in South and East Mediterranean countries is central to inquiry.

Argument

The conference brings together a series of international researchers who examine youth policies within institutional structures and at the state level in six South and East Mediterranean countries (Tunisia, Morocco, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey). It sheds light on the politics of youth policies, sociological and economic obstacles to becoming "adults", and questions the historical turn after the 2011 "Arab Spring". Youth policies are examined at a macro-level in the areas of employment, family, migration and spatial planning in an attempt to understand the emergence of youth as a category, oftentimes identified with a public problem. The question of how various forms of marginalization and domination such as gender, social, urban/rural, ethnic, based on citizenship, etc. intersect and generate inequalities among youth in South and East Mediterranean countries is central to inquiry.

Program

9:30-10:15 Welcome Address: Blandine Destremau (CNRS/Iris) and Myriam Catusse (Ifpo)

• Introduction of participants and overview of the conference programme
• Preliminary address: Youth policies on a tightrope in the SEM countries

10:15-11:15 Families and Challenges of Youth Autonomy

• The Impact of Family Policies on Youth Policies in Turkey, Laden Yurttaguler (Bilgi University)
• Youth and Family in Tunisia: Trapped Between Normative Constraints and the Neo-liberal Economy, Renata Pepicelli and Daniela Pioppi (IAI)

11:15-11:30 Coffee break

11:30-12:30 Employment and Challenges of Youth Inclusion

• Fostering and Controlling the Unequal Inclusion of the New Generation: Youth and Employment in Morocco, Maria Cristina Paciello and Daniela Pioppi (IAI)
• The Shortfall of Development Policies to Address Youth Issues in Palestine, Abeer Musleh (Bethlehem University)

12:30-14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:30 Politics of Youth Policies

• Youth Policy in Tunisia: Internationalisation of Youth as a Public Policy Issue, Omar Somi.
• Gender, Intersectionality and Youth Policies, Ruba Salih (SOAS)
• Youth and Spatial Politics in Lebanon : Exclusionary Public Policies and Claiming the Right to the City, Mona Harb (AUB)

15:30-15:45 Coffee break

15:45-17:15 After the 2011 “Arab Spring”: A Historical Turn?

• From Economic to Social? Identifying a Shift in Tunisian Projectification, Aude-Annabelle Canesse (LAM/Sciences Po Bordeaux)
• The Disguise of Youth Inclusion in Egypt, Nadine Sika (AUC)
• Gulf and EU Migration Policies after the Arab Uprisings: SEM Youth as a Security Issue Françoise de Bel-Air (Migration policy center/EUI)

17:15-18:30 Comparative Perspectives and Conclusions: Blandine Destremau and Myriam Catusse