Personal Life Course Motivations for Young People's Involvement in Public Life in Hungary

The present research aims to contribute to the findings of the large sample of Hungarian youth studies and to the knowledge about young people. It does this by using qualitative methods to explore the life paths of young people, their motivation for public and political activism, their understanding of democracy, the emergence of traditional and unorthodox forms of activism in their case, and their understanding of the spaces of political publicity within an otherwise less active young age group. Among other things, the research seeks answers to the question of what young people think about public life and political activism, how they define these concepts, and how they define themselves, how they view themselves. In relation to Grasso's (2017) theory, we explore the political context in the early stages of young people's lives, current trends in politics as they are reflected in young people, for example, are there typical public events from their childhood that they remember, consider meaningful, or perhaps participated in? The theoretical framework of the research is provided by theories of civil society, especially its minimalist conception and Freser's (1990) reflections on the public sphere as changed by the mass media. In addition, theories on activism, international trends in activism, and the transformation of activism, with a particular focus on changes in the political activism of youth, are also discussed. The research methodology is based on the use of essentially qualitative techniques. The research topic and research questions justify the need for softer data, deeper information helps to understand the underlying content and patterns of political activism. The expected results of the research include a deeper understanding of politically active youth, their motivations for activism, the impact of the current political context, and their self-definition related to their activism.