Abstract

Youth empowerment has gained prominence as part of Bahrain Economic Vision 2030, resulting in the rise of countless initiatives aimed at empowering youth across diverse fields. Simultaneously, official media outlets in Bahrain have continued to report on and engage with these latest developments. This study employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework to identify and examine the dominant Discourses of youth empowerment and the subject positions constructed for the youth in Bahrain. Furthermore, it critically assesses the power of these official Discourses in constructing the values and beliefs within this social group. A mixed-methods approach was used, consisting of text analysis of youth empowerment initiatives’ titles and articles published in official media outlets, as well as a survey administered to 73 Bahraini youth. The findings indicate that the official media in the Kingdom generally constructs a positive representation of youth in Bahrain, emphasizing their contributions through their talents, achievements, and service to the nation. Three dominant Discourses were identified: Discourses of Patriotism, Discourses of Unlimited Potential, and Discourses of Pride. Moreover, the official discourse emphasizes youth inclusion and agency, thereby positioning youth as active contributors to the Kingdom’s future. The analysis of survey responses further suggests that Bahraini youth have largely internalized this positive narrative and do, in fact, identify with the dominant Discourses and subject positions made available to them. Overall, the findings demonstrate the influential role of the official discourse in constructing representations of youth and highlighting the potential positive implications of such representations. Future research is needed to examine the unofficial Discourses surrounding youth empowerment.

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