Ahmed Khudair Hussein – Director of the Department of Social Studies and Research, Al-Bayan Centre
Introduction:
The magnitude of the social, political, and economic problems that young people are experiencing today and the oppression of political activists prompt many of them to mobilize through various means for social and economic change. The mobilization and Participation they resort to are not necessarily directed against the system itself but include collective action within the boundaries of society.
Young people are resorting to new patterns of mobilization, which are essential as part of community and mass activism as influential young people motivate others to confront problems and contribute to their solution through the ways and mechanisms they resort to, such as joining the civil society to express their activities, or entering the labor market, boycotting certain goods, and political Participation through the election, or joining a political organization. Vice versa, boycotting elections and resorting to protests and sit-ins. All these patterns reflect the Iraqi Youth’s choice to change to make his voice heard. Accordingly, this study aims to identify how young people turn to change.
Methodology and Objectives:
The current study highlights young people’s choices when changing; when young Iraqis want to be heard, what mechanisms do they resort to?
The present study explained the choices and views of young people toward change through the data collected. It analyzed their orientations, drawing on the descriptive and analytical approach to presenting the topic, through the social survey of a sample of young people, with different directions, geographical patches, and diverse cultures, in a way that would allow the results to be disseminated to them.
The present study was directed to young people (males and females) through a questionnaire consisting of 15 main questions addressed to a sample of 1000 respondents, selected by cluster sample method in the selected governorates and youth housing areas: (Baghdad, Anbar, Nasiriyah, and Erbil), which were distributed knowingly in terms of the ratios of the population in each of the four governorates to the percentage of the selected sample, with minimal variation in the methodology of some governorates.
