Cultures, Transitions, and Generations: The Case for a New Youth Studies

Abstract

Youth studies is made up of many perspectives. While built around a sociological core, it is interdisciplinary. It draws contributions from geography, history, anthropology, education, cultural and media studies, and even critical strands of adolescent psychology and economics. Its topics range widely from the criminological study of gang formation to the cultural reshaping of music genres and even high school proms, and from patterns of household formation to the potential of austerity policies to create a ‘lost generation’ facing the scarring effects of their early labor market experiences across their working lives.