A Critique On Youth-Government Colaboration In Bandung City

Abstract

This study intends to criticize the interplay of the government vis-à-vis youth in the context of democratization. Specifically, this study aims at explaining the government’s discursive efforts in shaping and articulating the ethos of citizenship in youth. Through critical studies using critical discourse analysis with semanalysis techniques, rhetorical analysis, and critique of youth reality through observation and in-depth interviews, this study found that: (1) the government has expected the quality improvement of citizenship participation at a citizen power level through collaboration. However, in practice, the established relationship represented the panopticon dominance model with subject-object political logic; and (2) the youth’s ethos of citizenship has been articulated at the level of tokenism. This was caused by the tendency of political struggle among youth to gain access to power. Budget factors still play an important role in this case. This situation demands institutional to strengthen and revitalize the political dimension in youth through optimizing youth relations with conventional political structures.