Youth
Key Concepts
1. Edition January 2009
176 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This accessible book takes a fresh and original approach to the concept of youth, placing changes in the social construction of "youth" within a more general story of the rise and fall of grand theory in social science. Gill Jones evaluates the current relevance of these wider social theories to understanding youth in late modernity in the light of key examples of empirical work on young people. Individual chapters are organized around the themes of action, identity, transition, inequality and dependence - conceptual themes which cross-cut young people's lives. The book considers the validity of youth as a social concept and examines ways of identifying what is specific to young people without resorting to seeing them as a homogeneous group defined by their age; in so doing, it uncovers notions which are erroneously attributed to young people.
Youth represents a thought-provoking challenge to a new generation of social science students, youth researchers and practitioners to distance themselves from the politically- and emotively-charged issue of youth in contemporary society and move further towards re-theorizing the concept of youth in ways which are relevant to young people's lives today.
1 What is 'Youth'? 1
2 Youth as Action 30
3 Youth as Identity 58
4 Youth as Transition 84
5 Youth and Inequality 112
6 Youth and Dependence 140
7 Youth in Society 164
Notes 184
References 188
Index 214
debates in the social sciences, indicating how they have either
addressed the question of youth, or could be extrapolated to have
something to add to theoretical approaches to youth."
British Journal of Sociology of Education
"The particular value of Jones' approach is that it moves easily
between social, cultural and psychoanalytical theorists to reveal
what nuggets of value they hold in relation to young
people."
Shane Blackman, Canterbury Christ Church University for
Sociology
"It's all here, including the kitchen sink. Everything you ever
wanted to know about youth and a few other things you hadn't
thought of can be found between the pages of this book."
Mary Jane Kehily, The Open University for
Sociology
"A very handy little book for anyone who wants a simple but
comprehensive introduction to the social scientific study of
youth."
Tracy Shildrick, University of Teeside for
Sociology
"An excellent textbook that will be used at many levels of study
(and, I imagine, teaching!)."
Howard Williamson, University of Glamorgan for
Sociology
"In the latest of what has been a series of path-breaking
discussions of the subject, Gill Jones cuts through the complexity
of 'youth' to give an easily accessible account of the
evolving theories in the field and the evidence that can be
marshalled in support of each of them. The breadth of her
scholarship draws upon the wider framework of globalisation, and
the social, demographic and cultural upheavals in the context of
young people's lives."
John Bynner, University of London
"Jones has written a much-needed book that will help take the
burgeoning field of youth studies to a more mature and
intellectually stimulating level. Her book will become THE text to
use in advanced courses as students and teachers co-construct the
various issues and debates that have emerged as academics have
attempted to come to grips with the thorny issues inherent in
understanding the changing nature of youth in changing
societies."
James Côté, University of Western Ontario
"After over twenty years of empirical research and thoughtful
analysis on the subject of this book Professor Jones has distilled
her considerable experience into an authoritative text that will
help countless students to write their essays and, I suspect, many
of their teachers to prepare their lectures. Gill Jones has
established herself as the doyenne of the sociology of
youth."
Ray Pahl, University of Essex