PhD Students

In much of the most extraordinary expressions of dissent which have convulsed various cities around Europe in the last years, deprived suburbs and its young inhabitants have played a key role. Nonetheless their political claims have been misunderstood as meaningless outbursts of violence, not seeming to imply any rational demand. This misunderstanding demonstrates the reality of the serious lack of visibility and consideration these social actors experience in their daily life, denying them the possibility of being taken seriously as citizens of the society in which they live.

Considering the growing depoliticization and inequalities which characterize the current social landscape, discovering new forms of political subjectivity is a task that urgently needs to be undertaken.
The principal aim of my research is thus to explore forms of youth subjectivation and resistance to marginalisation within precarious suburban neighbourhoods in Dublin. The study will focus on (a) critical and creative interventions by and on behalf of youth with a defined political aim and (b) expressions of resistance through acts of conflict or violence aimed at increasing the visibility of the young people within political and social space.