Interlocutations on participation: What do youngsters from the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, Brazil say

Abstract

This article is intended to submit part of the analysis of the results of the investigation «Brazilian Youth and Democracy: participation, spheres and public politics», which was coordinated by IBASE and the Polis Institute in addition to universities and ONG’S. It picks up as references the records produced in the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre. The investigation was developed in seven metropolitan regions of Brazil and the Federal Province with the purpose of inquiring over the juvenile participation processes regarding the participation, ways, contents and senses youngsters between 15 and 25 years old, keeping in mind the importance of these individuals form the consolidation of the democratization process of the brazilian society. Some of the matters studied were: how do youngsters participate, their reasons for participating, which are the significations and senses of this juvenile participation in public and political spheres. The investigation discovered that the considered youngsters indicated that survival questions are of underlying importance in order to carry out life projects that include the participation and struggle for the construction of a better Brazil.