Grammar of Youth: Approaches to the Study of Change and Social Reproduction from Longitudinal Strategies

The advantages of longitudinal studies in the analysis of social change processes are significant as they allow to reconcile macrosocial trends with transformations in life course individual patterns. The Grammar of Youth Longitudinal Studies Program (Programa de Estudios Longitudinales Gramáticas de la Juventud) of FLACSO Argentina began to develop in 1998. Throughout two decades of work and with the objective of contributing to the theoretical and methodological debate on inequality, social justice, and providing imputs for the elaboration of programs and policies for education, employment and youth, it has been consolidated as a program of great originality in the South American region.

The information compiled by the Program has allowed to analyze the main transformations in the education-to-work transition of young people in Argentina since the beginning of the 21st century. The panels present the evolution of two generations that reached the coming of age (18 years old) in two very different social economic conjuctures. On the one hand, G 99 classifies young people who reached 18 in a period of time marked by unemployment and economic recession (1999). On the other hand, G 11 classifies young people who reached 18 in a context characterized by greater employment opportunites and social protection (2011).

This presentation shows, from the processing of recent field results, the main trends of the passage from education to employment of young people who have participated in two different economic and political conjunctures. The central idea is to provide evidence on trends towards change and social reproduction observed through the life course of young people in the south region of Latin America, with the purpose of contributing to the theoretical and methodological debate in the field of youth studies.