De l'immaturité politique des jeunes. Lectures anglo-saxonnes, realités méditerranéennes.

The article examines transformations in youth political engagement in the countries of the southern Mediterranean within broader processes of modernization. Challenging the identification of modernity with the Western historical model, it emphasizes the plurality of modernization pathways and the specific sociocultural configurations in which they unfold. Particular attention is paid to processes of individualization, changing intergenerational and gender relations, and transformations in young people’s relationships with tradition and authority. The analysis shows that these dynamics do not simply lead to secularization or to the replacement of traditional affiliations by modern forms of participation. Rather, they generate specific combinations and reinterpretations of tradition and modernity. Islam itself may become a resource for the construction of individual subjectivity and for new forms of presence in the public sphere. Finally, the article distinguishes different patterns of youth political engagement, highlighting a shift from relatively stable and institutionalized forms of participation towards more individualized, temporary, and issue-specific forms of political action.