Contemporary Youth Research Articles

Transnational mobility desires and discourses: Young people from return‐migrant families negotiate intergenerationality, mobility capital, and place embeddedness

AbstractA longitudinal and intergenerational perspective opens up possibilities of novel insights into the socio‐spatial practices and relations that constitute, and generate, transnational youth im/mobilities. This paper draws on research conducted over 10 years with young adults who had migrated to Ireland as children with their return‐migrant parents during the Celtic Tiger period. It explores how, as young adults, they envisage and navigate their unfolding im/mobility pathways. In a context where transnational mobility experience is highly valued and celebrated, they draw on their mobility capital as former migrants to self‐position as knowledgeable mobile subjects. However, precisely because of their personal and family mobility resources, their engagements with discourses of hypermobility are selective—simultaneously claiming the cultural capital of transnational mobility and de‐fetishising it by producing grounded interpretations that value place embeddedness. The paper sheds light on some of the tensions of contemporary youth mobilities in contexts of globalisation, uncertainty, and migration.

From Hypochondria to Disruption: Hegel and Stiegler on Youth

In what sense can we grant the fundamental technological disruption as described by Bernard Stiegler (2019) a proximity and relationship to the self-diagnosed hypochondria suffered by G. W. F. Hegel? The question informs the struggle and question of what knowledge is, and therefore the formation of Bildung (liberal learning or culture), which are shared themes and key issues in both thinkers. The question will serve to inform the meaning of crisis both in terms of personal crisis and philosophical crisis of Hegel as well as the modern psychical and societal sense of crisis. Despite their different contexts and different philosophical traditions, Hegel and Stiegler are both offering a philosophy of youth, a philosophy of age, and a response to the crisis found in the development of conscious being. Both then are vital thinkers for discussing the trials and tribulations of contemporary youth. With this in mind, a comparison is made between the empty subjectivity of young Hegel’s hypochondria and the very disruption of desire itself among contemporary youth who can no longer envisage a future. The question is whether Hegel’s hypochondria is comparable to the nihilism and alienation of young people who Stiegler describes as suffering from a profound loss of belief in the future. The conclusion speculates on whether the current technological era has distorted the process of individuation to such an extent that the necessity of psychological passage through forms of youthful hypochondria and alienation has been superseded by an altogether different mode of automatization.

On the issue of the transformation of the psychological portrait of the modern Russian youth in a socio-cultural context (the case of questioning target students’ groups in Don State Technical University)

With the accordance to the formation of the psychological portrait of contemporary Russian youth in the sociocultural space, the author’s hypothesis is that in the modern conditions of sociocultural communicative competence, the sociocultural space becomes a necessary aspect in the development of the socialization of the Russian students. The object of the study is the Russian student youth, and the subject is an analysis of the nature of the influence of sociocultural communicative competence on the Russian youth socialization. Such social factors as: the influence of the place of residence on the level of student competence; the influence of place of residence on the level of claims; the influence of parental capital on the level of academic performance and level of professional claims; the effect of income on competence and the effect of income on professional claims, are necessary elements for students to achieve their goal, namely to receive an elite education, based on the base they have. The results showed that the higher education of the parents and the status of the university they graduated from creates a more favorable ground for the successful career of their children. Personal experience of parents determines the ability to choose the level of professional claims of students.

Creating Parasocial Relations of Contemporary Youth

Creating Parasocial Relations of Contemporary Youth

A mode of training computer education talents based on the requirements of “both red and expert”--taking Sichuan agricultural university as an example

“Both red and expert”, is comrade Xi Jinping’s expectation of contemporary youth and the fundamental pursuit of socialist education. In the practice of running a school, Sichuan Agricultural University always adheres to the principle of “both red and expert” and “comprehensive development”. To cope with the challenge of informationization to computer education talents, Sichuan Agricultural University has effectively explored a computer education talent training mode characterized by “excellent political quality, solid basic theory of specialty, strong practical ability”, which will be beneficial to the cultivation of the high-quality computer science talents in China of new period.

Shaping the National Identity of the Youth in the Polish Scouting Association (ZHP)

Studies on patriotism and national identity occupy a special place in the social sciences related to the comprehensive and integral develop­ment of the human person. The shaping of national identity in Poland is particularly important due to the recently celebrated 100th anni­versary of independence. An important role in this process has been played by social organizations, whose members take care of maintain­ing and cultivating the Polish tradition. One of such organizations has been the Polish Scouting Association (ZHP), founded in 1918. The aim of the paper is to show the positive role of ZHP in building national identity and shaping the patriotic attitudes of contemporary youth. This goal will be verified through a systematic review of litera­ture related to identity, patriotism and patriotic education. The article also contains an overview of initiatives related to shaping the patriotic identity in the Polish Scouting Association.

National Identity Development and Friendship Network Dynamics among Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Youth.

The development of peer relationships and of one's identity are key developmental proficiencies during adolescence. Understanding how immigrant and non-immigrant adolescents are developing a sense of their national identity and the role that this plays in how they select their friends and are influenced by their friends is essential for developing a more comprehensive understanding of adolescent development in context. The current study used longitudinal social network analysis to examine the interplay of national identity development and friendship network dynamics among immigrant and non-immigrant adolescents in Greece (N = 1252; 46% female). All youth with higher national identity resolution (i.e., youth's sense of clarity regarding their identity as a member of Greek society) in Grade 8 were more often nominated as a friend in Grade 9. During the transition from 8th to 9th grade, all youth became more similar to their nominated friends in terms of their Greek national identity exploration (i.e., degree to which they had engaged in activities to learn more about Greek society). During the transition from 7th to 8th grade, there was significant variability in peer selection on national identity exploration and resolution between immigrant and non-immigrant youth. Specifically, immigrant youth demonstrated selection effects consistent with notions of homophily, such that they were more likely to nominate peers in 8th grade whose levels of national identity exploration and resolution were similar to their own when in 7th grade. In contrast, non-immigrant youth preferred peers in 8th grade with low levels of national identity exploration (regardless of their own levels of exploration in 7th grade) and peers whose levels of national identity resolution in 8th grade were different from their own in 7th grade (e.g., non-immigrant youth who reported high national identity resolution in 7th grade were more likely to nominate peers who had low national identity resolution in 8th grade). There were no differences by immigrant status in peer influence, suggesting that the significant peer influence effects that emerged during the transition from 8th to 9th grade in which youth became more similar to their friends in national identity exploration may reflect a universal process. These results chart new directions in understanding contemporary youth development in context by showing that adolescents develop their national identity and friendships in tandem and that certain aspects of this process may vary by immigrant status.

Spatial structures of student mobility: Social, economic and ethnic ‘geometries of power'

AbstractThere now exists a growing literature on educational mobilities, and this paper contributes to understanding the way contemporary youth imagine the geography of the United Kingdom and how this translates to their mobility intentions. Using Giddens and Massey and drawing on a unique multi‐sited qualitative dataset, we examine how these flows can be understood as embedded within narratives of the self that are situated within a particular spatial structuring of social, economic, and ethnic difference. The multi‐sited dataset provides a unique opportunity to see the simultaneity of these social relations across space, mutually shaping, and reshaping each other over time. We illustrate how embedded within imagined mobility narratives are deeply unequal structures of economic power, (re)producing oppressed and dominant positions across social and geographic space. Geometries of race and ethnicity are also shown to structure the ways in which different ethnic groups look upon the geography of their university choices. The patterning of these imagined spatial flows around the United Kingdom at the point of university entry can be interpreted as one further manifestation of deep‐seated geometries of power that pervade social life.

Is There an Ibero-American “Youthology”? A Conversation

This article reproduces a conversation between Carles Feixa and Maritza Urteaga, researchers in youth studies, whose paths converge in the critical study of contemporary youth culture. Carles Feixa, PhD, is Professor of Social Anthropology at the Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona) and holds a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Manizales (Colombia). He was previously a lecturer at the University of Lleida, and has been visiting scholar in Rome, Mexico City, Paris, Berkeley, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Newcastle and Lima. He has also been a public policy consultant for the United Nations and VP for Europe of the “Sociology of Youth” research committee of the International Sociological Association. In 2017 he was awarded the icrea Academia Award by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia and an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council. Maritza Urteaga, PhD, is Research Professor at the National School of Anthropology and History in Mexico City, and a level ii member of the National System of Researchers in Mexico. This conversation reviews Feixa’s career, from its beginnings in the 80s to the present, to determine whether there is something that can be called Ibero-American “youthology”.

Expectativas de masculinidades e feminilidades em memes: escola, juventudes e zoeira

O artigo discute algumas expectativas sociais relacionadas à masculinidade e feminilidade presentes nas relações entre estudantes do ensino médio de uma escola pública do Guarujá/SP, assim como o agenciamento produzido por eles/as. A reflexão emerge da aproximação etnográfica e da realização de Oficinas constitutivas da metodologia de pesquisa qualitativa realizada na escola, orientadas pela perspectiva do/a jovem sujeito e que investem no diálogo a partir das diferenças e da desnaturalização de normatividades. Com o material de campo foi feita análise de conteúdo a partir de categorias organizadas em eixos. A escola, espaço importante de socialização de jovens, norteia a forma de se viver a feminilidade, a masculinidade e a sexualidade, geralmente apresentando apenas um caminho e deslegitimando corpos e atitudes que desviam dele. As redes sociais e os memes são aspectos centrais e organizadores das juventudes contemporâneas e, portanto, mais um espaço de socialização e construção de identidades culturais, que foram adotadas como disparadoras dos debates das Oficinas. Como resultado, identificou-se que a sexualidade é dimensão propensa a gerar conflitos na vivência dos/as participantes, em particular, colocando as meninas sob rígida vigilância, enquanto é estimulada para os meninos. A zoeira se mostrou ferramenta de agenciamento de forma distinta para rapazes e moças diante dos discursos de normatização, mas também serviu para reforçar ideias hegemônicas, quando as jovens evitam comportamentos que as coloquem na categoria «vadia» e os meninos na «viado». Em muitas situações, identificou-se que as expectativas de gênero podem ser violentas, na medida que limitam a experimentação sexual para as meninas e impedem a vivência da afetividade para os meninos. Entretanto, os/as jovens não se encerram em discursos e práticas normativas e podem ampliar seus repertórios quando se apresentam em diálogo, indicando a desestabilização de naturalizações em torno de masculinidades e feminilidades como possibilidades.

Representations of Speech Culture Through the Prism of Youth Consciousness (According to a Regional Sociolinguistic Experiment)

The article discusses the results of a pilot sociolinguistic experiment. Its purpose was to study the ideas of speech culture among high school students using questionnaires. The objectives of the study included the identification of the value-based attitude of informants towards the speech ideal and the carriers of “exemplary speech”, opinions of the level of contemporary youth speech culture, as well as shortcomings and values of modern Russian speech. The questionnaire included high school students’ assessment of language innovations and specific facts of word use, including the norms of the literary language that went beyond the norm boundaries. The survey was conducted among high school students of Omsk and the Omsk region. It was found that, for informants, public media people most often act as carriers of exemplary speech, among which TV presenters, writers, and cultural professionals have a priority. At the same time, 14 % of respondents found it difficult to “personify” their speech ideal in relation to modern speech. Moreover, the results of the experiment showed young people prioritize such characteristics of speech culture as compliance with the norms of the literary language, effectiveness and ethics of speech. At the same time, the experiment revealed the influence of stereotypes about “language clogging with foreign words” perpetuated by Russian media. The author considers the relevance of a scientific approach to understanding language development for high school linguo-didactic practice

The Social and Cultural Tendencies in the Environment of Contemporary Youth. A Polish-Ukrainian Comparative Study of the Structure of Axiological Reality

The Social and Cultural Tendencies in the Environment of Contemporary Youth. A Polish-Ukrainian Comparative Study of the Structure of Axiological Reality

The Social and Cultural Tendencies in the Environment of Contemporary Youth. A Polish-Ukrainian Comparative Study of the Structure of Axiological Reality

The Social and Cultural Tendencies in the Environment of Contemporary Youth. A Polish-Ukrainian Comparative Study of the Structure of Axiological Reality

Towards Teacher Preparation At The College Of Distance Education: Mentors’ Challenges And Managing Strategies As A Socialization Factor Of The Contemporary Youth

This study was aimed at exploring mentors’ experiences at the College of Distance Education (CoDE), University of Cape Coast. The study adopted qualitative approach to bring out mentors’ insights into the mentoring process. Researchers employed census sampling techniques for the study. In all, 145 participants were used for the study. The main data collection instrument was open-ended questionnaire. The study revealed that mentors face professionalrelated, institutional-related and transportation challenges. Again, it came out that mentors adopted effective communication, guidance and counselling, orientation and sacrificial approach to manage the challenges they faced. The study recommended that the management of CoDE should consider adopting advance payment plan for mentors to reduce their financial burden. Also, College should consider adopting a cluster system where mentees are grouped based on their distribution in a particular location so that mentors would not have to travel far for supervision.

СОЦІАЛЬНО-ПСИХОЛОГІЧНІ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ І ЗАКОНОМІРНОСТІ ФОРМУВАННЯ ФЕНОМЕНУ САМООБМЕЖЕННЯ СУЧАСНОЇ МОЛОДІ

У статті визначено соціально-психологічні характеристики і закономірності формування феномену самообмеження сучасної молоді. Показано, що соціально-психологічний аналіз феномену самообмеження особистості дозволяє розглядати його як цілісний психологічний механізм, змістовним аспектом якого виступає власне ставлення, а динамічним – фіксована установка, проте психологічна природа й та роль, котру виконує означений механізм у життєдіяльності, варто упрозорити через поняття смислової регуляції. Наголошується, що ставлення до самообмеження й самоорганізації є суб’єктивно забарвленим відображенням особистістю взаємозв’язків власних потреб з об’єктами та явищами світу, виступає чинником, що обумовлює поведінку молодої людини; це – суб’єктивне ставлення, що утворює своєрідне ядро суб’єктивного світу особистості.

Social Advertising As A Socialization Factor Of The Contemporary Youth

The study focuses on the growing problem of the contemporary society which we may observe in the increasing impact of the media, namely advertising, reflecting in the consumer behavior of the contemporary youth influencing their value systems, in continuity with a significant weakening of the role of primary socialization factors, i.e. families and schools. The study should not only reveal the power of the media affecting the young but also to answer the question of whether social advertising can become a significant socializing factor in the current postmodern society. To find the answer, an extensive quantitative research was carried out in 1,080 primary school respondents, as well as in 1,080 secondary school respondents at 54 schools in the Czech Republic - the sample being directly proportional for girls x boys, and towns/cities x villages. The study also includes conclusions based on the follow-up qualitative research realized in the form of focus groups for pupils of primary and secondary schools, specifically aimed at specifying the effectiveness of social advertising according to the priority presentation of different socially problematic areas. The final part of the study presents the possibility to effectively use social advertising in the role of an educational and training agent in the system of primary and secondary education in the continuity of cooperation with university students with the focus on marketing communications, as well as with marketing employees of advertising agencies.

Look at Us, We Have Anxiety: Youth, Memes, and the Power of Online Cultural Politics

Childhood is often defined by social marginalization— by a denial of access to public space and voice, and the circumscription of what interests, issues, and discourses are open to young people. The internet, as a space of expression that has lowered barriers to entry and confounded attempts at social control, is one of the primary spaces in which 21st-century youth are able to resist adult efforts to regulate their agency and expression. However, it is not only the technological tools of the online world that help them to resist marginalization from public discourse in these spaces, but also its symbolic and cultural resources—shared ideas, practices, and vocabularies particular to online communities. As part of larger projects on teens’ and young adults’ use of online communities to engage with cultural politics, I have been investigating the use of memes—patterns of formulaic content that rise and fall in popularity in short periods of time—in social critique, ideological discourse, community building, and identity representation. This paper examines the impact of memes on cultural discourse and, indirectly, on institutional politics, exploring their potential as an empowering channel of expression as well as their ongoing use as a tool of manipulation by larger political forces. I argue that understanding the cultural power of memes and other aspects of online remix culture is vital to theorizing contemporary politics, to analyzing the experiences and identities of contemporary youth, and to preventing the worst eventualities the increasing significance of online cultural politics may enable.

Youth Justice in the Digital Age: A Case Study of Practitioners’ Perspectives on the Challenges and Opportunities of Social Technology in Their Techno-Habitat in the United Kingdom

This article draws on original, empirical research that focused on the use of an experimental mobile application developed by the authors and used in the domain of youth justice in England. Against a backdrop of the theory of the paradox of technology with ideas of the networked self and child rights, the article explores the use of social technology with vulnerable/marginalised young people. Given the dearth in knowledge and understanding, in this area of social technology and young people in conflict with the law, the article focuses on an important, original and fast-developing issue in contemporary youth justice. Principally, the article explores the experiences and views of practitioners to promote a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges in the adoption of social technology in working with marginalised young people. Practitioner perceptions on the use of social technology in their own practice and its associated risks and benefits are also revealed. Study findings indicate that digital opportunities and challenges are embedded in organisational and cultural structures and practices. The article discusses implications for youth justice and ultimately for young people in conflict with the law who are caught up in the system. The article raises important issues about the likely increasing use of technology as a tool in rehabilitation and desistance; and its key messages will be of considerable interest to practitioners, managers and policy-makers who will have little option, as time goes on, to enter this controversial field.

Towards a Sociological Understanding of Sexting as a Social Practice: A Case Study of University Undergraduate Men

This article makes the case for understanding young people’s engagement with ‘sexting’ as a social practice. Moving away from the dominant focus on teenagers and (sexual) risk and instead approaching sexting as an ‘everyday’ practice sheds light on how sexting is perceived and situated as a normalised part of contemporary youth culture. Drawing on 10 focus groups with 37 undergraduate men in Melbourne, Australia, our data reveal young men’s significant emphasis on consent, mutuality and respect, marking out ‘appropriate sexting’ practices as distinct from harassment or image-based abuse. Nonetheless, the centrality of a transactional approach to sexting questions those seemingly positive dispositions. Social practice theory permits sophisticated understanding of these nuances, seeing them as bound up and produced in correspondence with the broader meanings, embodied skills and material artefacts that are associated with sexting.

Growing up South Asian: A Brief Trajectory Drawn from South Asian Novels Targeted for Youths

This paper primarily presents the trajectory of growing up in South Asia drawing insights from the selected novels about South Asian youths (SA youths). In this process, the paper explores the political interest of the West in non-Western children and youths. The focus is on the exploration of whether contemporary youth literatures have still been reinforcing the image of SA youths as the Other of the European youths, or if there has been any significant change augmented by the recent phenomenon of global connectedness. By laying a framework of these forces for analyzing how they are reflected in the literatures for the South Asian youths by foreign, diaspora and home authors, this paper prepares a ground for further exploration.