Conclusion: Developing Forms of Capital in Youth Transitions

Abstract

AbstractIncreased demand for academic credentials and the growing risk and insecurity in the employment market over the past few decades have had a profound effect on young people. The majority of scholars in the field share the observation that these neoliberal trends lead to prolonged and more complex youth transitions (Bradley H, Devadason R. Sociol 42(1):119–136, 2008; du Bois-Reymond M. Models of navigation and life management. In Furlong A (ed) Handbook of youth and young adulthood new perspectives and agendas. Routledge, Oxon, pp 47–54, 2009; Furlong A. Handbook of youth and young adulthood. New perspectives and agendas. Routledge, London, 2009; Heinz WR. Youth transitions in an age of uncertainity. In Furlong A (ed) Handbook of youth and young adulthood new perspectives and agendas. Routledge, Oxon, pp 19–29, 2009). Yet, their opinions diverge regarding the implications of the changing nature of transitions. One camp argues that these conditions lead to more individualized transitions, lessening the impact of structures and compelling young people to “navigate” their own pathways and assert agency (Beck U. Risk society: towards a new modernity. Sage, London/New York, 1992; Beck U. British J Sociol 58:679–705, 2007; Giddens A. Modernity and self-identity: self and society in the late modern age. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1991). In the other camp are scholars, such as Côté (Côté J. J Youth Stud 17(4):527–543, 2014a; Côté JE. Youth studies: fundamental issues and debates. Palgrave Macmillan, Houndmills, 2014b), who argue that youth have become even more vulnerable and forced to depend more heavily on social and institutional structures. Many other researchers position themselves somewhere between these camps, pointing to both the persisting roles of structures and increasing individual creativity in navigating transitions (Evans K, Furlong A. Metaphors of youth transition: niches, pathway, trajectories or navigations. In Bynner J, Chisholm L, Furlong A (eds) Youth, citizenship and social change in a European context. Aldershot, Hants, Ashgate, 1996; du Bois-Reymond M. Models of navigation and life management. In Furlong A (ed) Handbook of youth and young adulthood new perspectives and agendas. Routledge, Oxon, pp 47–54, 2009; Furlong A. Handbook of youth and young adulthood. New perspectives and agendas. Routledge, London, 2009). Barely accounted for in this discussion, however, is the experiences of immigrants’ descendants. This is a blatant omission, considering that ethnic minority youth, as they are often called, comprise one of the largest groups in today’s diverse cities and are statistically recognized as among the most vulnerable. While ethnic and migration studies and social stratification research focus on how this group integrate within the education system and labour market, neither research paradigm has yet explored how immigrants’ descendants experience the process of youth transition. As this book has demonstrated, transition experiences presage the future of these groups in society and, considering how large the group is, this will have broader social implications. This study was inspired by seminal debates in youth sociology concerning new forms of transitions. It is my aim to contribute to this debate by exploring the case of native-born descendants of Turkish immigrants—now one of the largest ethnic minority youth groups—in Western European cities. The findings of the study, which analyzes the role of social structures—social class, gender and ethnicity—in shaping youth transition processes across different institutional settings in Amsterdam and Strasbourg, has relevance for both camps of scholarship.