625
Youth in the Global South: Divergences, Absences, Universalities

Thursday, 19 July 2018: 17:30-19:20
Location: 205D (MTCC NORTH BUILDING)
RC34 Sociology of Youth (host committee)

Language: Spanish and English

It is problematic when theories assume universalism, when they have only been applied to people from one or two regions. This is frequently the case in Youth Studies research, as Global North scholars regularly make generalisations when they have only investigated a small subset of young people in specific regions. Edited books and journal articles in the field regularly claim to focus on a universal life stage, whilst research is informed largely by youth in Europe and North America. This results in theoretical assumptions that are both useful but insufficient for addressing the needs and concerns of global South youth. The flip side of these systemic, global knowledge production processes is that global South insights that could benefit youth everywhere are assumed only to have local relevance, to be case-studies of phenomena already observed. Northern theories therefore require adaptation to become relevant to Southern Youth; and global South scholars must generate their own, indigenous theories. Southern theory that focuses on youth could illuminate a fuller range of human experiences and sublimate into knowledge that may be used to benefit those who have been consistently silenced and peripheral in the world system. This session invites contributions that refute or support these arguments, and is especially keen to receive contributions from senior and emerging scholars that map out research agendas and theoretical lacunae that focus on Southern youth; that contrast what is available with what is needed; and also draw attention to universalities between Southern and Northern youth and scholarship.
Session Organizers:
Sharlene SWARTZ, Human Sciences Research Council; University of Cape Town, South Africa and Adam COOPER, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Co-Chair:
Rosa Maria CAMARENA-CORDOVA, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico
Oral Presentations
(Dis-)Connected Youth. Political Dimensions of the Digital Divide in South Asia
Elvira GRANER, Heidelberg University and ICAS:MP New Delhi, Germany
A Tale of Youth and Institutions: Second Modernity in China and Brazil
Mariana HASE UETA, University of Campinas, Brazil; Thiago BRAGA, UC Davis, USA
Jóvenes, Violencias y Familias: Una Sociedad Que Oculta Sus Faltas?
Noemi EHRENFELD LENKIEWICZ, Universidad autonoma metropolitana-xochimilco, Mexico
Distributed Papers
Re-Engaging Youth Agency and Resilience in Youth Research
Ariane DE LANNOY, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Lauren GRAHAM, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Family, Sexual Relations and (a trance-) Gender through the Eyes of Youth: Cross-Cultural Research
Zhanna PUZANOVA, Peoples` Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Russian Federation; Nickolay NARBUT, Peoples` Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Russian Federation; Tatiana LARINA, Peoples` Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Russian Federation; Anastasia TERTYSHNIKOVA, Peoples` Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Russian Federation
Youth, Politics, Entrepreneurship and Wealth Creation in Nigeria: The Priority of a New Narrative
David IMHONOPI, Covenant University, Nigeria; Ugochukwu URIM, Department of Business Management, Covenant University, Nigeria; Friday IGBADUMHE, Department of Business Management, Covenant University, Nigeria
Glocal Youth Culture As a Bridge between Two Ethno-Religious Adolescents Groups As Mirrored in Body Perception and Self-Image
Shlomit BECHAR, Beit Berl Academic College, Israel; Irit MERO-JAFFE, BEIT BERL COLLEGE, Israel
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