Gr8 Xpectations: Youth and Youth Cultures in the Middle East

Barbara Petzen

Middle East Policy Council

Aspects of Youth Culture

Seen as both in danger and dangerous by insiders and outsiders

Demographics Space Consumer Culture Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll (and Sufi Cool) Politics

Youth as the Future

Children seen as the future of the country

Schools cultivate ardent nationalism (as in USA)

The economic, political, social future of the nation

Youth as the Threat

Leftist student violence in Turkey 1970s

Revolutionary fervor in Iran 1979

Seen as vulnerable recruits to Islamist groups

Victimized or violent? Disenfranchised or

decadent?

Demographic Trends

High youth populations: 60% under 24; Iran 70% born since 1979; Egypt 33% 14 and under; Yemen 66% under 25, 20% 15-24

Education leads to

higher aspirations

High unemployment– 85-90% unemployment among youth– Worst among most educated

– Class divide

The Young Middle East

Source: UN Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision (2007), www.esa.un.org/unpp.

Percentage of Population Aged 15-24 (2005)

Urbanization: Turkey

The Turkish population increased 5 times from 1927 to 2000.

It multiplied by 3 between 1945 and 1990, whereas urban population increased 7 times.

*“urban”= territories with a population over 10,000

  Turkey (total)

Urban Turkey Istanbul

1927  13 648 270  3 305 879  806 863

1945 18 790 174 4 687 102 1 078 399

2000 67 803 927 44 006 274 10 018 735

Kustepe* youth survey

More than half declare that they are unhappy with their life:

57% explain their difficulties by unemployment or by precariousness of their work conditions

52% by lack of formal education 42% by poverty

* Low-income neighborhood in Istanbul

Case Study: Iran

Demographic problems as result of own successful and unsuccessful policies

70% of population born after 1979

Successful in encouraging people to have lots of babies during Iran-Iraq war—5.6% TFR (Total Fertility Rate) 80-88

Then started new national family planning program, with birth control counseling mandatory before marriage

Brought TFR down to 2.5%

Case Study: Iran

Youth literacy 94%, higher for girls

Only 10% accepted to university

Serious drug problem

Unemployment 11-16%, much higher for youth

Politically active--15-18 year olds instrumental in 2001 election of Khatemi--some disillusionment; big youth support for Mousavi in 2009

Case Study: Egypt

44.4% in “poverty tunnel”—cannot or can just fulfill basic calorie needs, or add basic non-food expenses

10% unemployment, 87.2 percent of the unemployed are between the ages of 15 and 29, unemployment among college graduates 10 times higher than non-graduates

Food prices going up

Where does this lead?

Where does this lead?

Youth Spaces

Real and virtual Class differentiation Corner vs. Campus

spaces The basement and the

street The mall

Iranian youth culture

Cultural encounters in urban Turkey

Emergence of new money with economic transformations

“Fear of falling” of the old middle classes A discourse of derision and scornfulness

toward newcomers in Istanbul: creation of the “maganda”

Class and Spatial Differentiation

Differentiation and distancing among youth as a result of socio-economic and cultural transformations

Erhan (20) is originally from Siirt. His parents first moved to Aydin than to Istanbul. He is working on Istiklal Street, selling corn in summer and chestnuts in winter. He is living in one of the distant gecekondu areas and his main contact with the city center is his work. (Radikal, July 2007)

Cem (19) and Can (19), in the Radar Live Festival at Kilyos Beach. (Radikal, July 2007)

1990s : Socio-spatial fragmentation in Istanbul

Rapid suburbanisation– Gated communities in the urban

periphery in conflict for land with gecekondu zones (urban regeneration projects)

Inner city :– Gentrification– Slummification

Shopping malls: new public spaces & consumption temples

Olivium shopping mall, ZeytinburnuBahçesehir residential complex, Büyükçekmece

Urban skate culture and beyond

The new, the proud, the cool Brownbookmag.com (online urban guide to the

Middle East)

The Street Corner/Corniche/Club

Elite aspirations: New Dubai opera house

Architecture = international cool

Virtual spaces

Virtual space

The Blogosphere in the Middle East: Global Voices

Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq Dalia Ziyada: human rights activist in Egypt Twitter @Sandmonkey Mahmoud Salem Mustafa Naggar: Islamist blogger in Egypt 100,000 blogs in Farsi: English language

Iranian blogs at http://www.iraniansblogs.com/

Virtual space

Consumer Culture

Globalized media Conspicuous

consumption Pop music “clips” International brands Tech cool Not the same as

secular--can be Islamic chic as well

Beirut consumer culture

Café culture

Dubai: A Whole New World

Islamic haute couture

Life Ads Coke

Nancy Ajram Coke ad http://www.youtube.co

m/watch?v=35O3udLS83Y

Parody Coke ad http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGvXpJjqLWc&feature=related

Communications Revolution

Egypt: Landline phones: 10.3 million

Cell phones: 55.4 million Internet users: 20.1

million state-run TV operates 2

national and 6 regional terrestrial networks as well as a few satellite channels; about 20 private satellite channels and a large number of Arabic satellite channels

Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll

Youth exchange cell phone numbers by Bluetooth

Exchange pictures Surreptitious dating—

sex is political Cell phones, Facebook

and the Blog

Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll

In Lebanon, many young men emigrate for jobs in the Gulf

The ratio of unmarried young women to men is said to be 5:1

Great competition amongst women for men visiting home from Gulf to find marriage partners

'They live in a culture where they are supposed to be educated, to work and be pretty,' Khalaf said. 'They have to be sexually attractive but not sexually active and they will do anything to grab a guy's attention.’

Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll

Youth may be less attracted to state-sponsored religious forms, but that doesn’t mean they are not spiritual or religious themselves—a new “Sufi cool” is apparent across the region

Mercan Dede http://www.mercandede.com/EN/

Mohsen Namjoo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rgt5hzMvCI

Sami Yusuf: Islamic pop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5GpBG-k9tk&feature=related

O-Hum: Darvish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeN4kfBPx1k

Kiosk : Love for Speed (subtitles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi0egvuCRCo

Junoon: Dosti

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD59l0e5krY

Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll

Hich-Kas: Bunch of Soldiers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU1NNAH6b_g

Hoba Hoba Spirit: El Caid Motorhead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIXCI9lmaho

Arthimoth Iranian death metal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNav2lzd-TQ

Palestinian Rapperz Ya Sayedati

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciVGfB0L3u8

Egypt: Arabian Knights with Lauryn Hill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z696QHAbMIA

Politics

Disillusionment with politics as usual

Politics through music Use of new forms

(Young Civilians) New spheres of actions

(BGL, environment) Many protests leading

up to the “Arab Spring”

Environmental Activism

The Cedar Revolution

“Freedom’s children”

1990s and 2000s: rapid individualization of youth

An “actively unpolitical” younger generation rejecting traditional ways of politics

Ex. Young Civilians’ Democracy Class and miniaturk visit as a reaction to recent interventions of the army to the politics

New multiculturalism

After Hrant Dink assassination

We are all Armenian Mass

demonstrations

New Youth Protests

Wellsprings of the “Arab Spring”

Not just about Facebook and Twitter—why did they play the role they played? Demographic issues key: youth bulge, unemployment, housing Corruption (economic, political, judicial, internal security), illegitimacy of political leaders (resistance to attempts to make non-monarchical dynasties permanent) Poverty (income disparity) Discrimination Overcoming psychological barrier of fear of regime, fear that things can indeed get worse (that’s not fatalism)

Lessons of the “Arab Spring”

It’s not all about religion, despite our stereotypes Islam is not seen as something old/outdated, seen as positive alternative to corrupt secular regimes People have very modern aspirations, admire both our freedoms and our technology Democracy is important to people, but so is stability—both economic and political Elections aren’t enough, aren’t democracy Institution building in judiciary, political infrastructure, business will take time