Contemporary Youth Culture

Book excerpt: Youth as a unique group is a 20th century idea. The changes wrought worldwide by WWII, propelled adolescence to a status and identity that coincided with unparalleled economic growth. While developmental psychologists refined their theories of normal growth and maturation, society and the media were at work constructing youth as consumers, thereby liberating them from traditional family controls. An increasingly smaller world impinges mightily on the culture of youth. An international and inter-disciplinary roster of experts shed light on today's youth culture by exploring such topics as hip hop culture; punk culture; social justice movements; video games; political activism; language and identity; post-feminism; television; rites of passage; heterosexuality and homosexuality; race and ethnicity; social class; poetry and literature; visual art; conceptions of beauty and body image; academics; sports; drugs; families; refugee youth; the Internet; youth journalism; fashion; and violence. Adults and adolescents will find this authoritative and reliable guide accessible and fascinating. In addition to excellent essays, users will find a timeline of contemporaneous international develpments in youth culture. An introductory essay places youth in historical and contemporary contexts and underscores the notion that despite their power as consumers in a market-oriented world, youth are still seen--and see themselves--in contradictory ways. In short, this work brings new understanding to the complex and fluid phenomenon of youth culture.