The present work analyses from a critical point of view the notion of political socialization and its current issues about the distancing of youth in relation to politics. The political socialization concept is analyzed according to two main aspects: first, it is discussed its assumptions in relation to an identity theory of subjectivity that essentializes subjective positions related to age, and it is based on a developmental perspective on human trajectory. Second, it is discussed how political socialization studies presuppose a division between public and private spaces, where the relations of intergenerational transmission are restricted to the private space, and thus, do not take into account youth contribution to the decisions of collective life.
political socialization; youth; intergenerational relationships; subjectivity