YOUTH FUTURES
Comparative Research and Transformative Visions
Edited by
Jennifer Gidley and Sohail Inayatullah
PART I: MAPPING YOUTH FUTURES
PART II: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH FROM AROUND THE GLOBE
PART III: CASE STUDIES: TEACHING FUTURES
IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS
Youth around the globe are struggling to make sense of a world that has lost its meaning for them (both in postmodern Western societies and mixed—traditional, modern, and postmodern—Asian and African societies).
Growing into a time of the most rapid change known to history—as evidenced by trends such as globalization, genomics, global governance, virtualization, and terrorism—the line between adapting and falling off is a very fine one. We hear so much about the rise in youth suicide and youth violence, yet many young people have positive—indeed transformational— ideas about the future that go unheard. Furthermore, too little attention is given in contemporary policy-making, education, and community development to the hopes, dreams, fears, and anticipations of young people. As a global society, we are failing to actively listen to what young people are saying about the future.