Contemporary youth resistance culture: viability, relevancy and pragmatism

Abstract

This issue of Critical Arts offers insight into how the reality of an intractable imposition of neoliberalism in large parts of the globe, and the future it seems to offer, are being challenged by disaffected youth. It is a collection of articles that draws attention to the now-expansive cracks characterising the functioning of capitalist governance, questioning the ability of this system to gainfully absorb future generations and cater for their livelihood. It is a commentary on shifting forms of resistance; the employment of communication technologies in its administration; and a speculation on the future public sphere as a result of these. Most of the contributions arise from the fallout of the so-called 'credit crunch' (2007/8) and the subsequent economic recession that has gripped the neoliberal world--all of them concern the advancement of a more just society that it seems to be at odds with. While societies' constructions of youth might differ, variously defined in terms of chronology; enfranchisement; levels of responsibility, tasks and assets; and so on, the future faced by the majority of the youth--and it is one that appears to be perilous--is less discriminatory. The world of our descendants--if the innumerable statistics of the sustainability and impact of human practices are to be heeded and drawn to their logical conclusion--will be a place of intense struggle for dwindling resources amidst massive overpopulation with ecological and environmental catastrophe presenting serious challenges to the democratic capacity of states. Already, 40 per cent of the world's unemployed are between the ages of 15 and 24: 75 million people (Working with Youth 2012). There are, perhaps, even more in vulnerable or underemployment. The neoliberal reality is that a bright future, itself, becomes the estate of capital: the ability to 'purchase' skills useful for employment in the economic future. In capitalist economies, neoliberal forces have presented a holistic pervasion of societal institutions. In the contributions that follow, Rajendra Chetty, Henry Giroux and Jacqueline Kennelly, for instance, allude in varying degrees to the neoliberal attack on education and pedagogy, effectively acting to further disable individuals from having recourse to capital that constitutes the framework's raison d'etre. Tuition hikes are largely the result of the erosion of state funding avenues, and courses are, in increasing severity, designed principally for the articulation of the neoliberal agenda (cf., e.g., Rivers 2010). Of course, this can only have a negative impact on the role of institutions to propagate critical thought, and to advance the cause of humanity, and the world, via reflective consideration of the policies, ideas, paradigms and technologies that govern--or, indeed, prohibit--our existence. That said, literally millions of graduates have discovered a large disparity between skills acquired through education, and those sought by employers. Admittedly an extreme example, in Tunisia, in 2011, 40 per cent of university graduates were unemployed as opposed to 24 per cent of those who did not attend university (Fraser 2011). To further exacerbate the issues faced by graduates, with the increase in tuition fees and in the general cost of living, many have massive loans and credit to repay: in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US), in 2007/8 the average student respectively owed between $9 500 and US$5 500 more to lenders who had funded their studies, compared to barely half a decade earlier (Ainley and Allen 2010). The articles presented here largely offer a critical discussion on the sociopolitical fallout of this so-called 'Lost Generation' (ibid.), and are concerned with its historical location within economic, political and social frameworks derived from our major modes of production. More generally, though, this collection is a commentary on the nature, form, consolidation, signification and validity of contemporary cultures of youth resistance in various parts of the globe. …