• 5. Youth Identity and Resistance

Deepening on the Need of Autonomous Youth Organisation

As the youth of the world, we are currently confronted with a systemic crisis of unprecedented intensity. The ecological catastrophe is worsening daily, wars are intensifying everywhere, nationalism and fascist movements are spreading across the globe. In order to fulfill its endless thirst for profit, the capitalist world system is destroying the environment and ultimately robbing humanity of its basis of life. We experience the consequences everywhere, be it in our personal lives or in our environment: social isolation, feminicide, poverty, misery, violence and environmental disasters. To change this world young people around the world are organizing and fighting for a better future. For us, being young means searching for the truth, for a better world and a better tomorrow.

In November 2023 in Paris more than 400 young people from allover the world came together in the 1st World Youth Conference – Youth Writing History. A year has passed since then and the work of networking and exchange has been in progress in different parts of the world. We think it is time for us, as revolutionary youth in Europe, to determine the next steps we should take. In the framework of the upcoming Peoples Platform Europe, we want to come together as youth organisations, movements and activists and find answers to the question of how we, as youth, can find solutions to the crises of our time.

Whether it is the resurgence of European militarism and the growing threat of war, the ecological catastrophe or the growing danger of fascism, as young people we are the first and most affected. Therefore, we have to think about the role of organised and autonomous youth in the revolutionary struggle. How can we organise ourselves in our movements and structures, what is the role of the organisation of young women and what can be common goals and projects to respond to the needs of the youth of Europe today?

We know that ’nothing can stop a youth that strives for freedom’. But it is all the more important that we come together to channel this energy and power of the youth into the much needed change and revolutionary process.

In order to pave the way for closer cooperation and unity among the struggling youth, we must answer the following questions:

• What is the role of democratic and revolutionary youth in Europe?
• What does it mean to develop a youth identity?
• What are the challenges faced by organised youth?
• What are the experiences of autonomously organised youth all over Europe?
• How can we resist the attacks of the special war in the centres of capitalist modernity?
• How can we find common principles to strengthen our struggle while respecting our differences?
• How could possible networks of struggling youth look like and what do we need to do to support each other in solidarity?