The culturalisation of everyday life – young democratic citizens’ paradoxical attitudes

In the Nordic countries, research demonstrates that younger generations generally meet democratic expectations regarding knowledge, trust in the political system, and citizenship education. However, an increasing number of young people perceive society as fragmented, with political division and polarisation becoming more prominent. This paper draws on 77 interviews with Danish youth from two age cohorts, 19–22 and 26-29. The interviews were conducted across various regions of Denmark to capture a broad diversity of perspectives, allowing for the identification of patterns in participants’ narratives and their corresponding attitudes toward contemporary cultural phenomena, fellow citizens, and society. Against this backdrop, the paper seeks to explore the dispositions underlying young people's political and democratic attitudes, and how these attitudes are shaped by emotional and affective experiences in their everyday lives. The study's theoretical framework is informed by Andreas Reckwitz's concept of ‘culturalization’ and Arlie Hochschild's exploration of how individuals’ political views are intertwined with the dynamics of ‘emotion work.’.