YOUTH UNREST AND AGITATION- Concept ,Causes, Characteristics, Theories:

In our society, along with caste ,religious and linguistic stereotyped images ,there exist many other stereotyped images in the country. One such image is about our youth. The stereotyped image of the youth is rebellious, irrational and immature. The youth tend to be angry when they notice the widening chasm between what the leaders preach and what they actually practice. Disappointed and disillusioned by this ,the frustrated youth start some agitation to lodge a social protest. 

CONCEPT OF YOUTH UNREST:

Unrest is the state of ' disillusionment and dissatisfaction' .Social unrest is the manifestation of collective disillusionment ,discontentment and frustration of the group, community or society .If there is unrest among the students of one university it is not perceived as the problem of 'student unrest' as such. It is only when students all over the country feel frustrated on common issues like admissions , content of courses , the examination system and the representations in academic bodies which started youth or social unrest . On this basis ,youth unrest may be defined as the "manifestation of collective frustration by the youth in the society." It is manifested when the existing norms in the society are perceived by the youth as ineffective or harmful to the extent that they offend them, and they feel so disillusioned that they recognize the need for changing these norms.

It is characterized by-

1. Collective discontent

2.Dysfunctional conditions

3.Public concern

4.The need for change in the existing norms.

YOUTH PROTESTS,AGITATIONS AND MOVEMENTS :

Social protest is an expression of disapproval to something a person is powerless to prevent or avoid. It is a mode of communicating discontentment .It is an expression of outrage against "INJUSTICE". 

The important elements of social injustice are :

1. Action expresses grievance.

2. It points out to a conviction of injustice.

3.Protesters are unable to correct the condition directly by their own effort.

4.Action is meant to provoke ameliorative steps by the target group.

5.Protesters depend upon the condition of coercion ,persuasion and sympathy.

 YOUTH AGITATIONS:

Social protest may lead to aggression, agitation and movement. Aggression is unprovoked attack. David Myres define aggression as " physical or verbal behavior that hurts, harms or destroys ." This includes accidental hurts and unintentional hitting. 

"Agitation" is to bring grievance and injustice to the notice of people in power. It is to shake up 'to move ,to stir up , to cause anxiety ,and to disturb the power-holders.

"social movement" is a collectively acting with some continuity to promote or resist change in the society .

It is characterized by :

1.Collective action which is initiated, organized and sustained.

2.Ideology

3.Orientation towards social change.

Youth agitation is the behavior of the youth whose goal is neither the injury of the person nor destruction of the public property but social protest. 

The preconditions of youth agitations are :

1. Structural strain

2.Precipitating factor 

3.Mobilisation of action by a leader

Important functions of youth agitations are:

1.To create collective consciousness

2.To provide opportunities to the young individuals to express there feelings and make some impact on the course of social change.

Students agitations may also be classified as:

⧭ Student oriented agitations :It includes problems at college/university level. They are generally discontinuous and problem oriented rather than value oriented.

⧭Society oriented agitations :It is in the interest of country politics ,policies and programmes.

IMPORTANT YOUTH AGITATIONS IN INDIA : 

1. Gujarat Agitation : The anti reservation youth agitation in 1985 had started when following the recommendations of the Rane commission, the Govt. of Gujarat hastily enhanced the reservation quota just before the assembly elections for the students of the socially and educationally backward classes from 10 % to 28%. Naturally, the students reacted , and started an anti reservation agitation which soon took the shape of Hindu - Muslim antagonism and strife , Dalit versus upper caste communal clashes and political bickering .

2. Assam Agitation : The youth of Assam started  agitation in 1983-1984 on the issue of refugees from East Bengal and ultimately were joined by a majority of the population in the state.

3. Anti -Mandal Agitation : The agitation and self-immolation cases of the youth in 1990 are something that cannot be easily forgotten. The Janata govt. suddenly announced on August,7,1990 the acceptance of Mandal's commission's recommendations of reserving 27% govt. jobs for OBC candidates. The agitation soon started in Delhi and soon spread to various states in northern India. The frustration of the youth is somewhat suppressed by the new reservation policy of the congress govt. announced in sept-oct 1991.

YOUTH RECEPTIVE TO AGITATIONS:

1. Socially isolated youth who feel alienated and cut off from the larger society .

2. Personally maladjusted youth youth who have failed to find a satisfying life role.

3. Unattached to the family youth who lack intimate ties with their families are encouraged to participate in agitations.

4. Marginal youths who are not fully accepted and integrated with their caste/religious/linguistic group feel uneasy, insecure and resentful.

5. Migrants have little chance of getting integrated into the larger community and hence joining agitations acts as refuge for them.

CAUSES OF YOUTH UNREST AND AGITATIONS:

The UGC committee of 1960 pointed out the following reasons for student agitations :

1.  Economic causes, Like reducing fees and increasing scholarship.

2. Demanding changes in existing norms ,pertaining to admissions , examinations and teachings.

3.  Poor functioning of college universities.

4.  Conflicting relations between students and teachers.

5.  Inadequate facilities in the campus.

Joseph Dibona studied agitations in one university in Uttar Pradesh and gave three causes of student agitations : 

1.  Economic causes ,which included a sense of insecurity for the future and gap between economic needs of the country and the educational  system, that is ,education being viewed as non job oriented.

2. Socio-psychological causes, which included defective educational system, gap between aspiration and achievement.

3.  Political causes ,which included political interference, instigation by political leaders .

THEORIES ON THE CAUSES OF YOUTH AGITATION :

two kinds of theories may be suggested to explain youth agitations: Psychological and sociological.

 Two important psychological  theories are: 

1. Discontent Theory :This theory holds that agitations are rooted in discontent. Youth who have either no high aspirations or are contented with what they have has no interest in agitations. But those angry youth who feel victimized by outrageous injustice ,or those who feel even mildly annoyed with existing structures  will collectively act to pressurize the power holders to bring some change. It may be a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition for youth agitations.

2. Personal maladjustment theory : This theory sees agitations as a refuge from personal failure .Agitators find their supporters among the unhappy ,frustrated young persons whose lives lack meaning and fulfilment .But , all student agitations in universities and colleges can't be explained in terms of personal failures of students leaders and activists. 

Two important sociological theories are:

 1. Relative depravation theory : This theory can be properly explained by distinguishing between discontent , deprivation and relative deprivation. A group feels 'deprived ' if it lacks a goal and objective it regards as desirable ,but it feels 'discontented' when it had been anticipating the pleasure to be achieved and then these objects can't fulfil their expectations. Relative deprivation is the perception that one is less off than others to whom it compared itself. Relative deprivation is plausible but cannot be proved. Feelings of  deprivation in youth is easy to infer but difficult to measure and still  more difficult to plot over  period of time.

 2. Resource mobilization theory :This theory stresses techniques rather than causes of agitations. It attributes importance to the effective use of resources in promoting agitations ,since a successful agitation demands effective organization. The resources to be mobilized include : support of masses ,rules that provide leverage, officials that can be helpful and target groups whom these benefits might attract .These are weighed against costs of agitational activity. The resource mobilization doesn't explain all kinds of youth agitations.

CONTROLLING YOUTH AGITATIONS :

1. An average young man is individualistic , imaginative and competitive. He only wants guidance so that his enthusiasm and zest could be contained.

2. The adult world has to accept he fact that youth problems cannot be solved for them but with them. Therefore , cooperation of youth need to be sought by parents ,teachers and administrators. Educational administration should cooperate and understand the problems of the youth.

3. Efforts should be taken to remove minor irritants in students day to day life. Each educational institution must have an efficient machinery to identify and settle student grievances. The effective measures for the redressal of the grievances could be : 1. accessibility to senior functionaries. 2. ensuring action om grievance in shortest time possible. 3. establishing monitoring system and getting regular reports from administrative staff. 4.sudden checkup by vice chancellor.

4. The question of the extent and pattern of student participation in the process of educational administration will have to be decided at the earliest.

                             It is now high time that the vast youth power ,which hitherto has been neglected and ignored is harnessed for development ,removing social injustice and achieving national collective goals.