Youth engagement is a critical dimension of youth development where the youth population engages in social action. In Kuwait, the patriarchal and hierarchical social structure has rendered youth participation and civic and community engagement a slow and elusive experience with notable effects on the economic trajectory of the country in an era of “youth bulge” in the Kuwaiti society. Despite an extensive cradle‐to‐grave welfare system, the presence of skilled and knowledge workers among the Kuwaiti population is negligible, undermining long‐term prospects of economic growth and development. As a result of increased use of the Internet and social media, there are growing calls for greater freedoms and reform of the traditional socioeconomic structure among the youth. Contextualizing from a historical perspective, this article comparatively analyzes the various contexts of youth participation in the pre‐ and post‐oil Kuwait, examines the socioeconomic transformation of Kuwait during and after the Gulf War of 1991, and reviews the current challenges of community participation among the youth and outlines a series of recommendations for the way forward.

中文翻译：

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科威特的青年发展：公民参与和社区参与对国家建设的影响

青年参与是青年发展参与社会行动的一个重要方面。在科威特，父权制和等级制的社会结构使青年人的参与以及公民和社区的参与成为一种缓慢而难以捉摸的经历，对科威特社会“青年鼓舞”时代的国家经济发展产生了显着影响。尽管建立了广泛的从摇篮到坟墓的福利制度，但科威特人口中熟练工人和知识工人的数量可忽略不计，这破坏了经济增长和发展的长期前景。由于越来越多地使用互联网和社交媒体，越来越多的人要求年轻人享有更大的自由和对传统社会经济结构的改革。从历史的角度来看，