The studies in the present volume are based on the empirical data of a recently completed MYPLACE project (Memory, Youth, Political Legacy And Civic Engagement, FP7-SSH-2010-1, GA Number: 266831). According to the objective of the four-year-long project, completed with the participation of researchers from 14 countries, the research concept how young people's social participation is shaped by the shadows (past, present and future) of totalitarianism and populism in Europe - did not focus on the comparison of national political cultures and heritages based on different classifications but on the pan-European approach. The empirical methods adapted to the concept (surveys, qualitative interviews and ethnographic case studies) have contributed to the examination of the social participation of young people in a historical and cultural context, and to the learning of meanings attributed to related concepts.