Mayssoun Sukarieh and Stuart Tannock: Youth Rising? The Politics of Youth in the Global Economy

Excerpt

Bourdieu (1993) once famously argued that “youth” is simply a word, unless we can uncover its construction in light of ideological manipulation. In Youth Rising? The Politics of Youth in the Global Economy, Mayssoun Sukarieh and Stuart Tannock undertake a critical examination of the category of “youth” that has been constructed and expanded by the various agendas of political elites and neoliberal machinery since the mid-20th century. For a range of ends in the neoliberal projects that are increasingly global in form, the notion of “youth” is exploited by the polity as a social technology for both control and celebration. The paradoxical construction represents youth, being one of the state actors, as the source of imminent problems and, meanwhile, future hopes of the polity. In a pessimistic fashion, youth is the site of moral crises and the societal gaze, drawing people’s attention to see young people as a problem while neglecting the more fundamental issues and contradictions in the global neoliberal economies. The problem of youth is to be coped with by other generations in the society, as aggression and “cult of youth” are thought to be associated with the “youth body.” On the other hand, the optimistic projection of “youth” makes social elites, politicians and other state actors perceive that the agency of youth is usually conducive to groundbreaking socio-technological transformation and paradigmatic shifts in brand new political context. Youth, as a vigorous social category, is believed to be the ultimate panacea for an emancipation of entrepreneurial societies. Contributing an enhanced understanding about youth experiences in socially and historically specific contexts, this thought-provoking book adds structural analysis, particularly about the material conditions of youth’s lives and their future aspirations, to the literature of youth studies that also concerns young people’s stylish consumption, individual agency and transitions into adulthood. …