중남미

This research characterize the connection between environmental conflicts, and political and civic involvement of young people in Los Lagos Region, Chile. To achieve this goal 44 in depth interviews were conducted with young people bet-ween 18 and 30 years old that take part in civil society or political organizations. As main results we find that identity and emotions are key elements for social integration and powerful drives for collective action. We discuss the role of environ-mental conflicts in the construction of individuality and collective action among young people of the Region; what arises from the process might be called “eco-territorial identities”. These results lead us to discuss also about the legitimacy of traditional political representation, especially in the context of territorial and environmental conflicts.