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The Future Is Not What It Used to be: Young People’s Future Visions in Youth Styles and Spaces of Engagement

Wednesday, 13 July 2016: 09:00-10:30
Location: Hörsaal II (Neues Institutsgebäude (NIG))
RC34 Sociology of Youth (host committee)

Language: English

In a time of rapid, worldwide transformation in terms of socio-economic crisis, ecological transition, migration, populism, terrorism and a lot more, the future is no longer what it used to be for youth. 
Being both actors of the present, and inheritors and creators of the future, young people are essential assets in the development of any society. They contribute to defining our world’s current and forthcoming features by acting upon their views of possible futures in their daily actions. 
Exploring the relationship between visions of the future, youth styles and spaces of engagement, this section aims at giving voice to youth ideas of tomorrow; representing young people’s collective efforts to actualise their own views insofar as these entail civic and political participation. 
Proposals should ideally address the following questions:

  • How do young people think about future?
  • What are their visions?
  • Have their ideas of future changed compared to previous youth generations?
  • Are youth and adults’ visions different?
  • What factors contribute to shaping youth views of tomorrow?
  • How and to what extent are their imagined futures connected to civic and political participation?
  • What do contemporary youth styles and specific spaces of engagement reveal about young people’s views of the future?
  • To what extent do different current conditions in countries allow for expression and realisation of their future views?
  • To what extent is the future imagined and actualised in their interaction with adults?


The section invites both theoretical and empirical studies employing sociological approaches and methods. Submissions that provide comparative perspectives are encouraged, and young scholars are particularly welcome.

Session Organizers:
Ilaria PITTI, University of Bologna, Italy, Nicola DE LUIGI, University of Bologna, Italy and Alessandro MARTELLI, University of Bologna, Italy
Posters:
Arab Mediterranean Youth and the Representation of the Future
Carmen LECCARDI, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy; Daniela CHERUBINI, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
Getting Squeezed: Spaces for Youth Engagement
Cristina BACALSO, Youth Policy Labs, Canada; Alex FARROW, Youth Policy Labs, United Kingdom; Ellen EHMKE, Youth Policy Labs, Germany; Andreas KARSTEN, Youth Policy Labs, Germany
Exploring Youth Participation Strategies in Chile
Maria TSEKOURA, Catholic University of Chile, Chile
Perception of the Youth Movement Toward an Equal Society: A Case Study of Thailand
Surangrut JUMNIANPOL, Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute, Thailand
Decline of “the American Dream?” Outlook Toward the Future Across Three Generations
Jeylan MORTIMER, University of Minnesota, Department of Sociology, USA; Arnaldo MONT'ALVAO, Rio de Janeiro State University, Sociology Department, Brazil; Pamela ARONSON, University of Michigan-Dearborn, USA
‘I Tend Not to Take Things Too Seriously': Australian Men's' Conceptions of Their Futures
Garth STAHL, University of South Australia, Australia; Sue NICHOLS, University of South Australia, Australia
Generational Precarity and Youth Politics in an Age of ‘Anti-Politics'.
Judith BESSANT, RMIT, Australia; Rys FARTHING, Oxford University, United Kingdom; Rob WATTS, RMIT University, Australia
Youth Civic Participation in Iran: Explanations and Prospects
Ali Akbar TAJMAZINANI, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Iran
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