Contemporary Youth Research

Helena Helve is Research Professor of Youth Education at the University of Kuopio and Adjunct Professor of Sociology and Comparative Religion at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She is President of the Finnish Youth Research Society and President (2002 - 2006) of the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on Youth. Gunilla Holm is Professor of Education at Western Michigan University, USA. Her research is focused on adolescent cultures and on schooling in popular culture. She is Vice-President of the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on Youth for the Americas.

’This timely book provides a very welcome global focus to youth research and makes a bold attempt to establish youth studies as a distinct discipline within the social sciences. Readers will particularly value the range of perspectives that form this collection.’ Andy Furlong, University of Glasgow, UK ’... a book packed full of useful material on the structure, practice and findings of youth research throughout the world... Helve and Holm have sought to give a voice and a platform to many of those who often get little chance to speak...’ Youth & Policy ’This work offers a rare comparative review of a field which is often focused on the local or national situation... 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.’ Adolescence 'It is refreshing to read a book that not only challenges the predominantly negative portrayal of youth and the western focus of both theory and research, but also attempts to redress this by presenting a collection of non-western as well as western research addressing a variety of issues.' Sociology 'It is important to note that this edited and contemporary collection of international articles gives a global perspective on youth. Most articles are written from a sociological perspective or theorisation; but will still be of some interest to educational psychologists working with adolescents. I understand that the primary audience are students of Youth Studies, but will be relevant to researchers, policy makers and youth workers... There is much to critically engage the reader... it will likely be of interest to EPs engaged in research with young people , especially when inter-cultural understanding is necessary. It is a useful resource book for ideas from a sociological perspective.' DECP Debate: Div

• Contents: Preface; Introduction. Part I Overview of Youth Research Globally: Conceptualizing and theorizing youth: global perspectives, Vappu Tyyskä; Youth research in Europe, Helena Helve, Carmen Leccardi and Siyka Kovacheva; Youth research in Africa, David Everatt; Trends in youth studies in (English-speaking) North America, James Côté; The socio-cultural construction of youth in Latin America: achievements and failures, Carles Feixa Pampols and Yanko González Cangas; Contemporary trends in youth and juvenile studies in China, Jin Zhikun and Yang Xiong; Youth research in Australia and New Zealand, Johanna Wyn. Part II Current Trends in Youth Research: Topic area 1, Education, Technology and Work: Biographical turning points in young people's transitions to work across Europe, Manuela du Bois-Reymond and Barbara Stauber; Texting as style: preliminary observations on cellular phone use among Filipino college students, Clarence M. Batan; Risk among youth in modern Russia: problems and trends, Julia A. Zubok; An attempt to reverse the failure of rural youth development in South Africa, David Everatt, Sipho Shezi and Ross Jennings; Cross-cultural understanding: service-learning in college coursework, Gunilla Holm and Paul Farber; Topic area 2, Youth Engagement: Latina/o youth contest for equity in the public school system in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles: a political and theoretical perspective, Fazila Bhimji; Young people's civic engagement. The need for new perspectives, Henk Vinken; Learning to destroy the world: western schooling and the natural environment, Thomas Ray; Topic area 3, Culture and identity in a culturally diverse and global world; 'Remaking citizens': perspectives from the lived temporalities of four Singaporean youths, Yen Yen Joyceln Woo; Mobilizing a lesbian identity as a means for educational achievement: Mizrachi lesbians in Israel, Liora Gvion and Diana Luzzatto; Cool nostalgia: Indian American youth culture and the politics of authenticity, Sunaina Maira; Teenage pregnancy in Mexico: why the panic?, Noemi Ehrenfeld Lenkiewicz; Index.