The problem of social generations: a critique of the new emerging orthodoxy in youth studies

Over the previous seven years the application of a social generation paradigm or ‘theory’ has gained increasing currency as a method in analysing young people's relationship with the life course. Whilst not a new concept or approach its resurgence and reconfiguration to ‘new’ times has seen some writers positioning it as a ‘new orthodoxy’ or ‘consensus’ within youth studies. In this it is seen as providing a conceptual framework that better helps us understand the complexity of circumstances and conditions that shape youth identities in late modern society. In this paper we examine and explore the underlying assumptions and claims that are made by those advocating the social generational paradigm, raising questions and seeking further clarification on a number of key themes. We accept youth studies needs to move beyond ‘old models’ that define and understand social context as a simply a tension between ‘structure or/and agency’ or as a ‘flavour’ to social action. To conclude therefore we propose the need to have an approach that is ecological and both accepts ‘social change’ and ‘continuity’ as critical parts of the life course, one that recognises the nature and influence of power and social reproduction, especially for different social classes, in shaping the experience of being young.     

Exploring youths' perceptions of the hidden practice of youth work in increasing social capital with young people considered NEET in Scotland

This small-scale research explores the generation of social capital in young people growing up in one urban area and one rural area in Scotland via community-led youth work projects that aim to re-engage young people categorised as NEET (Not in Employment Education or Training). By looking at their varied and complex biographies, it considers young people's experiences and perceptions of their communities and their transitions from education to the workplace. Using social capital as a theoretical lens, we examined the impact that youth work can have not just on these important transitions but also upon the young people themselves. By visiting two different sites of engagement we were able to explore whether the type of initiative (media or sports) or place (urban or rural) had an impact on the generation of capital for young people. The youth work practice in both areas acted as a glue between the young people and their communities, creating opportunities where the two could be bound together and relationships created. This occurred in both sites regardless of the area or type of initiative and confirmed in this study that youth work acts as a site of capital building.     

Unemployed by choice: young creative people and the balancing of responsibilities through strategic self-management

The Danish welfare system inadvertently provides a good opportunity for young creative people to pursue their dreams in creative fields such as art, acting, music while being on unemployment benefits. As Michael, one of the participants, puts it: ‘I consider unemployment benefit entrepreneurial support’. The subversive practice is illegal. This qualitative study investigates how young unemployed people who choose to be unemployed in order to engage in innovative projects in creative fields understand and justify their practice. Analysis of in-depth interviews with six young unemployed persons shows how the understanding and management of responsibility is pivotal in the self-understanding and legitimization of receiving unemployment benefits by choice, not out of need. This creative group reflects the contours of a new type of unemployed that has received very little attention in the research literature. The group challenges the traditional representation of the unemployed and portrays themselves as innovative, competent and able to cope with financial insecurity even though it is psychologically distressing and a risky path to go down. We characterize them as strategic self-managing as they use educational systems and unemployment benefit systems for something entirely different from what they are intended – they use it to create their own artistic life courses. This study tentatively points to a categorization distinguishing between personal, social and societal responsibility by which we can improve our understanding of responsibility in neoliberal contexts.     

Gendered forms of responsibility and control in teenagers' views of alcohol

There has been a shift in the most recent UK Government's Alcohol Strategy (2012) from personal responsibility towards a model of shared responsibility for young people's drinking. On closer examination of the strategy, however, it appears that rather than exonerating young people from blame, governance is merely extended to include wider partners. Using findings from nine focus groups with young people in Liverpool, UK, we explore who they believe are responsible for their drinking behaviours and how they learn to become ‘good drinkers’. Our findings show that while teenagers were aware of dominant alcohol-related messages and maintained a moral position as responsible citizens; they also negotiated and resisted norms about teenage drinking. Although both boys and girls agreed that parents were the primary responsible authority for regulating their drinking, there was gendered disagreement about personal responsibility. The girls described how they were ultimately responsible for any adverse consequences if they drank too much whilst the boys considered a wide range of partners who would be implicated. However, unlike the girls, the boys described a willingness to either abstain or moderate their alcohol intake in order to remain in control and avoid any alcohol-related trouble or harm.     

Examining concepts of power and agency in research with young people

Concepts of power and agency have become increasingly prominent in the youth studies literatures and related research. A focus of the research to date has been an examination of how a better understanding of young people's lived experiences can reveal possibilities for young people's agency to emerge. Despite increased interest in the term agency, much less has been said about how the concept is defined and recognized in research with young people, including what the concept may entail but crucially, how the term is linked to and underpinned by the related concept of power. This paper seeks to contribute to our understanding of power and agency as utilized in research with young people. The discussion that follows identifies the possible ways in which different theoretical positions shape our understanding of how power and agency are investigated and how these understandings inform the ways we interpret young people's perspectives and actions as holding potential for ‘agency’. Drawing on recent empirical examples, we consider how varying interpretations of power and/or agency shape not only the ways in which young people's agentic experiences are theorized (and the related ontological and epistemological assumptions these positions imply) but also the presumed effects of that agency.     

基金发行潮与管理公司绩效

区别于传统以基金作为独立个体的研究,本文以基金的母体——基金家族作为研究对象,重点考察以下问题:为何基金家族纷纷发行新基金?基金家族的迅速繁衍是否损害了其投资绩效?文章从理论上探讨了基金家族热衷于发行新基金的原因。并运用随机前沿分析(SFA)方法,以测算基金家族投资绩效为切入点,重点检验了新基金发行对家族业绩的影响。发现基金家族总体业绩偏低,新基金发行在短期能提高家族业绩,在长期会损害家族业绩。为此,文章进一步探讨了新基金发行对家族业绩的门槛效应。发现要有效促进基金家族业绩,单个基金家族半年内新发行基金数不能超过3只,其旗下基金总数不能超过11只。根据研究成果,文章提出了相关政策建议。     

培育大学文化塑造校园灵魂

高校校园文化是学校主流文化的体现 ,它包括物质和精神两个方面。校园文化对大学生成长成才具有非常重要的意义。新形势下校园文化的建设应当坚持先进文化的前进方向 ,并以高校校园文化建设为契机 ,突出重点 ,搞好基础、载体、保障等多个方面的整合。     

新秧歌运动:民间文学进入主流的一次尝试

"延安文艺座谈会"召开之后,解放区掀起了一场新秧歌运动。新秧歌呈现了一个全新的"民间",它的主体为工农兵,内容与主流话语一致。当时的权威话语期望新秧歌既能成为新文艺,同时又不脱离民间,但它的创作者追随意识形态话语,忽视了艺术性和文化内涵,使得它在历史上只是昙花一现,既没有对书面文学产生触动,也没有在民间文学领域留下痕迹。新秧歌运动的历史经验与教训在当今仍具有警示作用。     

社会主义新农村建设需要建立新型农民组织

社会主义新农村建设以农民为主体,有三个方面的具体要求,即充分尊重农民的意愿,不能搞成官员的“形象工程”;增进农民的福祉,不能搞成劳民伤财的“害民工程”;农民才是新农村建设事业真正的主力军,不能搞成专家学者的“明星工程”。农民是新农村建设的主体,是需要有具体的组织形式来实现的,在这个方面,我国台湾地区在20世纪70年代进行农村建设时有过许多经验和教训,其中最为重要的经验就是,要建设新农村,需要对农村的基层组织进行创新,以保证农民真正成为新农村建设的主力军,这一点非常重要。     

新农村建设中农民平等问题

新农村建设中的农民平等问题主要表现在社会保障、收入、基础设施、教育、就业等方面。当前,农民不能顺利地完成从农民到市民,从农民到工人的转化,不仅影响工业发展,还影响中国的城市化发展水平,同时对农民的利益也是一种严重的损害,会造成农民群体与城市群体之间的矛盾。