Youth and Social Integration in Algeria : A Comparative Study between Young People in the Wilayas of Oran and Ghardaïa “YSIA”

The issue of youth social integration places us at the intersection of two fields of study: the sociology of youth and public policy. At the outset, it should be noted that the youth question in Algeria has gained significant momentum due to two major factors. The first relates to the demographic weight of the youth population, while the second -equally important- concerns the local context. In fact, ambitious national public policies aimed at integrating young people into all spheres of life face obstacles that do not necessarily stem from the programs themselves.

Therefore, the study of youth social integration in Oran and Ghardaïa seeks to examine the relationship between this group and the broader social fabric. Through fieldwork, and based on this analytical framework, we aim to engage closely with young people in order to understand their perceptions of public policies, and how these relate to feelings of exclusion and marginalization resulting from objective conditions linked to education and training, employment, as well as cultural and sports activities.

Project objectives:

- To analyze and understand the positions that young people may adopt toward public policies.

- To provide field data on youth perceptions of public policies and the ways in which they are implemented locally.

- To enable undergraduate and postgraduate students at the universities of Ghardaïa and Oran to gain training in social science research by involving them in various stages of the field investigation.

- To potentially supervise workshops for young people in neighborhoods and ksour in Ghardaïa and Oran.

Planned activities:

- Exploratory study and field observation.

- Interviews with various local stakeholders and development of the quantitative survey questionnaire.

- Sampling and definition of the fieldwork methodology (in collaboration with statistical services).

- Training of investigators and supervisors and implementation of the quantitative survey.

Processing of quantitative data.

- Data coding and development of a statistical database.

- Writing an interim report based on preliminary quantitative analysis.

- Analysis of qualitative data.

- Writing the final report in the form of a publishable book.

Expected results:

- To highlight the extent to which national public policies are influenced by local contexts through the attitudes of young people in Oran and Ghardaïa (central–local relationship).

- To identify youth perceptions of local obstacles hindering the implementation of public policies.

- To determine the positions of young people in both wilayas regarding public policies in the fields of employment, work, education, and training.