A major new resource book for academics and students of youth studies, this work offers a rare comparative review of a field which is often focused on the local or national situation. Drawing together authors from across the world, the book combines assessments of the theory, methodology and practice of youth research, and the impact of globalization on this field of study. A particular strength of the text is its exploration of theoretical issues of globalization through substantial pieces of empirical work, some of which cover regions frequently overlooked in the international youth research scene, such as South East Asia and Eastern Europe.

A cutting-edge study showcases the emergence of contemporary youth activism in the United States, its benefits to young people, its role in strengthening society, and its powerful social justice implications. At a time when youth are too often dismissed as either empowered consumers or disempowered deviants, it is vital to understand how these young people are pushing back, challenging such constructions, and advancing new possibilities for their institutions and themselves. This book examines the latest developments in the field of contemporary youth activism (CYA) and documents the myriad ways in which youth activists are effecting social change, even as they experience personal change. By taking public, political action on a range of intersecting issues, youth activists are shifting their own developmental pathways, shaping public policy, and shaking up traditional paradigms. Section one of the book offers a historical perspective on youth activism in the United States, followed by a discussion of contemporary examples of CYA for social justice. The second and third sections analyze the individual, institutional, and ideological effects of CYA, arguing that youth activism works to promote change at three levels: self, systems, and in the broader society. Readers will come away with a clearer understanding of the many ways in which today's youth activists are working to reimagine and remake American democracy, reawakening the promise of a multi-issue, progressive movement for social justice.

Celebrity, Aspiration and Contemporary Youth uses the lens of celebrity to explore how young people think about their futures under austerity. Based on an interdisciplinary study, the book offers fresh insights into contemporary youth aspirations and inequalities. It helps us to understand young people's transitions into adulthood at a time of socio-economic 'crisis'. Drawing on original data, the authors examine what it means for young people to be forming their aspirations within the context of 'austere meritocracy'. The book addresses three central questions: What kinds of futures do young people desire and imagine for themselves? What is required of young people in the process of achieving these futures? And how are inequalities embedded and reproduced within these? Using young people's 'celebrity talk' to explore their aspirations, the authors challenge stereotypes of young people as a fame-hungry, get-rich-quick generation. Instead, they show how young people engage critically with celebrity and its discourses. Key chapters focus on how young people talk about youth, work, authenticity, success, happiness, money and fame in relation to their own lives and those of celebrities. Each of these chapters contains a case study of an international celebrity, including, Beyoncé, Will Smith, Bill Gates, Prince Harry and Kim Kardashian. The authors conclude with possibilities for social change. They show that celebrity offers an important way of working with young people to critically explore what futures are possible and for whom.

This title brings together contributors from across the world to explore real-life ethical dilemmas faced by researchers working with young people in a range of social science disciplines. A careful selection of chapters addresses a range of ethical challenges particularly relevant to contemporary youth researchers.

Rigorous research is crucial to effective work with young people and increasingly youth practitioners need to be able to develop, review and evidence their work using a variety of research and assessment tools. This text equips students and practitioners with a thorough understanding of research design, practice and dissemination, as well as approaches to evidence-based practice. A clear practice framework informs the book, outlining the significance of research to youth work, especially in relation to designing and developing services for young people. Research and Research Methods for Youth Practitioners: Analyses the research/practitioner role Explores the ethical context of research in youth work Offers a thorough analysis of key methodological questions in research in practice Provides a guide to data collection and analysis Presents five principal research strategies for youth work: ethnographic work and visual methods; interviewing and evaluation; surveys and evaluation; the use of secondary data and documentary analysis; and researching virtual and online settings Discusses the implications of research for work with young people as well as its dissemination. Written by experienced researchers and practitioner-researchers, each chapter in this accessible textbook includes an overview, a critical discussion of the pros and cons of the particular method or approach, a case study, a practice-based task, a summary and suggestions for further reading. This textbook is invaluable for student and practising youth workers. It is also a useful reference for other practitioners working with young people.

What is youth? How do we understand youth in its social and cultural context? Mark Cieslik and Donald Simpson here provide a concise and readily accessible introduction to the interdisciplinary field of youth studies. Drawing upon the latest research and developments in the field, as well as discussing the fundamental ideas underlying the discipline as a whole, it offers a comprehensive yet unpacked understanding of youth as a social phenomenon. Illuminating the many abstract and contested concepts within youth studies, the book offers explanations to questions such as: How might we define youth? How can we understand young people in relation to their social identities and practices? What is the relationship between youth and social class? How do youth cultures develop? How can we understand youth in a globalized perspective? Key Concepts in Youth Studies stands out as a natural companion for students on youth studies, sociology, criminology and social science programmes. It will also be useful for youth practitioners such as social workers and teachers.

This prescient Research Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges that young people from across the globe face as they navigate the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

In the post-socialist countries, the subject of consumption has not received sufficient attention from the perspective of Consumer Culture Theory. The opinion has long prevailed among the majority of social scientists from this region that consumer society and consumptive behaviour is a socially destructive phenomenon and one of the main causes of problems in contemporary society. This impression has prevented them from scrutinizing the symbolic dimension of consumption and led them to a critical analysis of the social causes and environmental consequences of excessive consumption. The examination of symbolic aspects of consumer culture or the mutual interaction of culture and marketing communication, for example, have remained outside the realm of academic interest. The absence of comprehensive academic interest in the topic of consumer culture does not, however, mean that consumer culture is not a subject of research. Such research, instead, takes place outside of the sphere of the university in the commercial sector and is primarily focused on issues of how to successfully sell products and services. Due to competitive concerns, commercial research into consumer culture has led to the privatization of its results, which runs contrary to the ideal of science as an open and critical project. The goal of this book is to create a counterbalance to this “science in the shadows” and overcome the mutual distrust between the academic and commercial spheres and make possible the transfer of recent discoveries between the two parties. This publication is dedicated to the exploration of three areas of consumer culture: research on consumer culture and consumer behaviour in post-socialist countries (especially in the Czech Republic), new developments in the theory of consumer culture and innovative methodological approaches to its research and, finally, to recent criticism of consumer culture and consumerism. It emerged from the collaboration of a team of authors made up of leading European researchers in the field of consumer culture, such as Kate Soper (London Metropolitan University), Franz Liebl (Berlin University of the Arts) and Rainer Gries (University of Vienna), as well as promising young scholars from the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Sweden, Serbia, Poland and Portugal. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sociology, cultural studies, marketing and market research.

Written in a clear and accessible style, this book presents a broad ranging enquiry into various methodological issues associated with contemporary youth research. Chapters cover a variety of topical areas, including youth transitions, youth in care, drugs, consumption and music. Featuring studies by new and established youth researchers, this book will be an invaluable resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and also those carrying out more advanced research, in the fields of sociology, social policy, health studies, cultural and media studies.