After the Arab Spring – the uprisings in Arab countries in 2010 and 2011 – people’s hopes for democratisation were followed by authoritarian backlashes, economic crises, the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as the effects of climate change, as Professor Jörg Gertel from Leipzig University explains: “In these interviews, we noticed a growing gap between the current reality and what would potentially be possible. When it comes to their own prospects for the future, most young people feel a sense of disappointment and helplessness.” Among other things, the study’s authors conclude that there is a high level of mistrust of state institutions and that democratic forms of government have lost their appeal. “But that doesn’t mean that young people are completely resigned and don’t want to change anything. More than three-quarters of respondents claimed that they get involved voluntarily in order to make a difference. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a lot of solidarity organised by young people,” says Gertel. “Despite deep disappointment about economic developments, the respondents remain very optimistic.”
The authors were surprised by “how clearly and distinctly the young adults were able to assess their situation (which in many cases has deteriorated dramatically in recent years), including compared to other countries. It is quite clear that in the absence of public programmes, only the family can provide support. However, as the middle class disintegrates, poverty spreads and countries suffer the consequences of armed conflict, many families are increasingly unable to support their children, teenagers and young adults. Optimism and helplessness go hand in hand,” says Professor Jörg Gretel.
The interviews were conducted in 2021 and 2022 by hundreds of trained face-to-face interviewers in North Africa and the Middle East: in Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan and Tunisia, as well as among Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
- The study “Die enteignete Generation – Jugend im Nahen Osten und Nordafrika” (“The Dispossessed Generation – Youth in the Middle East and North Africa”) has been published by Dietz, edited for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation by Jörg Gertel / David Kreuer / Friederike Stolleis.
