Tensiones entre representaciones institucionales y auto-representaciones en jóvenes rurales del municipio de Susa

Abstract

This research arises from the need to show a rural youth as active social subjects within their territories (López, 2009a). The objective of this research is to analyze the tensions between the representations that various social actors have made about the young people living in Susa, municipality of the department of Cundinamarca (Colombia), and how such representations are appropriate, questioned or reworked by young people themselves in their narratives, aspirations and practices. Based on an analytical proposal in which various contributions from youth studies, rural studies and social representations are articulated, a case study was carried out where institutional actors and young people of the municipality were approached. The fieldwork demonstrates how some representations permeate both the visions and the actions of several local institutions that work with the youth population. It also shows how young people, from their trajectory and social position and the appearance of spaces of socialization between peers, can appropriate or take distance about institutional representations. The conclusions point to the need to recognize the emergence of young subjects in various rural territories. Thus, throughout the investigation and the tensions that guide policies and projects directed towards young subjects are made explicit.