European Survey of Youth Mobilisation (ESYM)
Mission Statement
As a complementary component of the ongoing Intercultural Navigators Project, the British Council has partnered with the University of St. Andrews to develop the European Survey of Youth Mobilization (ESYM), an innovative and multidisciplinary approach to the study of youth political activity. The ESYM, which is being conducted in 
Nordic, Baltic and Central European countries, as well as in Scotland, directly engages young people who self-identify as engaged in 'radical' political action, and explores how they understand their own motivations and their goals for political and social change.
This is a broadly different approach than other studies which tend to limit the possibility, or at least the focus of their study, of radicalisation to a single community, suggesting not only that the source of radicalisation lies within that community alone, but that the impetus toward such mobilisation is either unfounded or pathological. Rather than treating individuals associated with political or social positions deemed 'radical' as being outside of political society, the ESYM project examines how communities and collectivities tolerate or support 'radical' action, how ideas move among mobilised youth both as individuals and through groups, and how young people see themselves within communities ranging from the most immediate and local, to state communities, European communities and global communities.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of this project is to examine the similarities and differences in patterns of youth mobilization, recruitment and action across various European extra-parliamentary and extra-liberal movements. Through the use of a comparative study the project explores political and social mobilization along six conceptual strands: religiously inspired political and social action; ethnically based social and political mobilization, both within Diaspora and immigrant communities and 'nativist' organizations; 'radical right' quarters, including activities among ultra-nationalists; 'radical left' movements including workers' organizations, anarchists, and anti-globalisation groups; environmentalists; and finally social and political mobilisation specific to the countries and polities included in the study.
Methodology
Through collaborations with local researchers the ESYM will compare structured interviews with young people in each of the participating countries with interviews conducted with the British Council identified Intercultural Navigators, and with roundtable 
discussions with leading regional academics and researchers exploring similar phenomena. This multi-strand approach applies ethnographic, anthropological and social psychological techniques and methodologies to shift the focus from solely examining individual motivations to that of understanding group processes and the larger social dynamics of recognition and identity formation. The ESYM will offer policy makers, activists, and academics a new and comparative perspective on issues of youth social and political mobilization, and will provide one of the first truly European-wide examinations of the subject. The first ESYM report is scheduled for late Autumn 2009 and will be available from this site.
A number of documents will be made available on this site for participants in the project.
