El Presupuesto Participativo en el contexto de los jóvenes de la Comuna 13 de Medellín

Abstract

This paper analyzes youth participation in Participatory Budgeting (PB) processes in one of Medellns most troubled neighborhoods, la Comuna 13. Participatory Budgeting is a process in which regular citizens work together with the municipal office in deciding how to allocate 5% of the citys overall budget. The initiative has been widely celebrated as an eective practice of participatory democracy and is increasingly viewed as an innovative tool for public management. This article highlights non-traditional forms of youth leadership and the important eects of youth organization in la Comuna 13. It also discusses some of the complications that young people from this neighborhood face in their eorts to take part in budgeting initiatives, considering the authoritarian culture, limited political formation and intergenerational tension that mark the context in which they live.