Tommi Laitio

works as project leader for Stranger Festival, a European youth video project by the European Cultural Foundation (ECF). He is responsible for the ECF’s youth and media activities. Laitio also works as a journalist for Finnish weeklies on documentary film, language of politics and television, and advises organisations like the British Council. (kiplekker.blogspot.com).

Articles

Superlocal identities

The European in the youth experience

European youth culture no longer blindly follows the US template: rappers in Europe voice local concerns while simultaneously connecting to global trends. Meanwhile, two-way interests have developed between commercial brands and artists, leaving politics and the mainstream media, after years of indifference, with a lot of catching up to do. Youth culture contains the germ of the European ideal, writes Tommi Laitio: but more needs to be done at the public level to cultivate the conditions in which it can thrive.