Figures of youth: on the very object of Youth Studies

ABSTRACT

‘Youth’ as a social category is used and abused in all manner of ways across an array of fields, platforms, discourses and spaces, Youth Studies notwithstanding. When we talk about ‘young people’ sometimes we seem to be referring to different phenomena, depending upon our political interests, theoretical perspectives and research methods. This article interrogates how the concept of ‘youth’ is figuratively put to work. By suggesting different figures of youth, and inviting suggestions for more, I propose that tracing how they are situated in different ontological spaces can develop a clearer conception of our research object(s) and help reduce confusion and the possibility that we are talking past each other. The incomplete picture I want to paint of figures of youth, in quite broad-brush strokes, all inter-relate in something of a feedback loop, a material-semiotic assemblage that forms powerful affects for the ways that ‘youth’ is brought into being, how youth are researched, governed, co-opted and exploited.     

Returning to YTS: the long-term impact of youth training scheme participation

ABSTRACT

Shortly after leaving Leicester for Scotland Andy Furlong began to wrestle with the complexities of school to work transitions as captured by the 1986 sweep of the British Cohort Study (BCS). His analysis was published as Schooling for Jobs. Although a relatively short text, this book was vitally important as it documented in detail, for the first time, the changes to career preparations of British secondary school children at the mid-point of a decade where the impact of deindustrialising processes, coupled with the neo-liberal policies of the political right, had ravaged the UK economy and decimated the youth labour market. The mid 1980s were a turning point that marked a shift to ‘individuals’ having responsibility for future career successes and the blaming of young people themselves for any perceived labour market failings. Central to this process was the Youth Training Scheme (YTS). Based on recent collaborations with Andy exploring YTS we have two main aims here. First, we revisit the BCS data to update the story and answer three interrelated questions: (i) what happened to the YTS participants from Furlong’s analysis?; (ii) what were the long-term career and life ‘impacts’ for those who participated in YTS during the 1980s?; and (iii) were these job substitution schemes or gateways to real and meaningful work? Second, we conclude by reflecting upon this aspect of Andy’s legacy and the shape of future research on youth training schemes.     

网络时代青年参与社会治理:价值、困境与对策

在互联网对社会的渗透日益深入且全面的今天，青年通过网络参与社会治理已经成为时代趋势。在新冠肺炎疫情的防控治理过程中，青年借助网络工具自发组织起来，积极参与社会治理，实现了从以前在官方组织引导下通过传统途径参与到主动运用互联网平台自发组织参与的创新。当前，青年在参与社会治理的过程中，还存在着专项管理缺失、社会信任度不高、发展性供给保障不足等问题。伴随网络时代的进一步发展，为了更好地发挥青年在社会治理中的作用，激发青年参与社会治理的积极性，需要从完善专项管理、转变观念态度、增强资源供给三个方面寻求破困之道，从而助力社会治理模式创新，提升国家治理效能。     

Between power and perception: Understanding youth perspectives in participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) in Ghana

Participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) approaches have been touted as an important concept for local participation in social interventions programmes. Utilizing a process analysis approaches, the PM&E data gathered through key informant interviews, formal surveys, and policy frameworks were analyzed. The study revealed three dominant power struggles between youth and programme implementers in three districts at the Greater Accra region, Ghana. The first and pervasive form of power dynamics involves the youth and programme implementers. The second involves a variety of arrangements with the government on one hand and implementers and youth on the other side. The third is who qualifies to be a beneficiary and for that matter participate in the PM&E. In these three forms of power struggles the paper reveals superior implementers control of who participate in the programme PM&E and at what stage in the process. The power imbalance between programme implementer and target beneficiaries impeded the level of beneficiaries’ participation in the PM&E.     

美国青年组织审视

以美国的Youth Outreach Services为案例,深入剖析、审视美国青少年组织,以期获得一些有益的启示,推进共青团组织更好地开展工作,服务青少年健康成长。     

共青团与校园文化建设

校园文化以其情景性、渗透性、持久性、愉悦性等特点,对学生良好思想品德和行为习惯的养成有其独特的作用。学校共青团组织应针对大学生群体在思想政治意识和道德观念行为方面的变动趋势,依据校园文化在社会转型时期的开放性、多元化与优势引领性特征;充分发挥自身的政治优势,全面推进学生会工作,积极引导组织学生社团;为推动群众性、阵地化、多样化的校园文化活动作出应有的创新贡献。     

青春偶像剧的文化表征与解码——基于约翰·费斯克理论的分析

青春偶像剧作为一种与商业逻辑、经济逻辑有密切互动的电视剧种类,其艺术生成、接受都深受后现代主义思潮的影响。在约翰·费斯克的符号表意、电视"吟咏"表意、水平和垂直向度的互文性等理论观照下,青春偶像剧在生产环节上将现实的幻化呈现为意识形态的编织,在传播上选择日常生活的视觉化吟咏策略,在接受上实现受众的个性化解码,从而完成了青春偶像剧的视觉化奇观和娱乐狂欢。     

团校必须做好新时期青年干部的培训

团校曾经作为团干的培训摇篮,为党和国家培养了许多德才兼备的后备干部,新的时期团校职能发生了改变,但是培养青年干部的职能只能拓展不能缩减,这就要求我们坚持培养青年人追求的同时,必须加强自身建设,适应新时期不同岗位青年干部的培训工作,这是团校培训工作需要,也是团校应有的社会义务。     

1954－1956年间的《长生殿》讨论： 爱情主题说及其批判

建国以来开展的思想运动和新文艺观的确立,对开始于1954年的《长生殿》讨论产生了深刻影响。而讨论伊始即对尚处于萌芽状态的"爱情主题说"进行批判,并将其提升到"资产阶级思想"的高度,则多少偏离了学术讨论的常态。从这个角度看,1954-1956间的《长生殿》讨论虽然不能说已具有了"思想事件"的性质,但却透露了向这种性质演变的迹象。     

迷失之痛与超越之难——论“知青作家”的苦难意识

“新时期文学”发端于对苦难的叙述和反思;其中,“知青作家”表现出独属于这一代人的苦难意识。以“动荡的青春”为叙述背景,面对理想的迷失,作家们以各自不同的叙述策略传达出了共同的苦痛与焦虑,同时也昭示了超越苦难的艰巨性和必要性。