Youth cultures

de Vered Amit, Helena Wulff

Anthropology - the study of humankind - has dealt mostly with men, increasingly with woman, to some degree with children and old people but very little with youth. The analysis of the creation of youth culture is a long neglected topic across the social sciences yet is fundamental to our understanding of society. Youth Cultures broadens the scope for analysing young people's behaviour by moving away from notions of resistance and deviance and offers a range of ethnographically based studies of different kinds of youth in varied national contexts. From Nepal to Canada, Europe, the Solomon Islands and Algeria, it addresses current issues relating to globalization in Third World cities, ethnic diversity in European cities and consumption practices and places the lives of these young people in the contexts of the wider cultures. Youth Cultures contributes to the general current concern in anthropology with 'rewriting' culture, even while it seeks to close particular gaps in studies on youth culture. By challenging the limitation of previous youth research and acknowledging children and young adults as agents to be respected rather than objectified, this book will be invaluable reading to students of anthropology, sociology, education, psychology, and cultural studies.