An international and inter-disciplinary roster of experts shed light by exploring such topics as hip hop culture; punk culture; social justice movements; video games and others.

Publisher Description

Now is an opportune moment to consider the shifts in youth and popular culture that are signalled by texts that are being read and viewed by young people. In a world seemingly compromised by climate change, political and religious upheavals and economic irresponsibility, and at a time of fundamental social change, young people are devouring fictional texts that focus on the edges of identity, the points of transition and rupture, and the assumption of new and hybrid identities. This book draws on a range of international texts to address these issues, and to examine the ways in which key popular genres in the contemporary market for young people are being re-defined and re-positioned in the light of urgent questions about the environment, identity, one’s place in the world, and the fragile nature of the world itself. The key questions are: • What are the shifts and changes in youth culture that are identified by the market and by what young people read and view? • How do these texts negotiate the addressing of significant questions relating to the world today? • Why are these texts so popular with young people? • What are the most popular genres in contemporary best-sellers and films? • Do these texts have a global appeal, and, if so, why? These over-arching themes and ideas are presented as a collection of inter-related essays exploring a rich variety of forms and styles from graphic novels to urban realism, from fantasy to dystopian writing, from epic narratives to television musicals. The subjects and themes discussed here reveal the quite remarkable diversity of issues that arise in youth fiction and the variety of fictional forms in which they are explored. Once seen as not as important as adult fiction, this book clearly demonstrates that youth fiction (and the popular appeal of this fiction) is complex, durable and far-reaching in its scope.

The concept of 'subculture' has long been of significant importance in research on youth, style, deviance and popular culture. Although in more recent years subculture has been the subject of sustained critique, it still provides a valuable point of reference for study and research. This text offers students an up-to-date and wide-ranging account of new developments in youth culture research that reject, refine or reinvent the concept of subculture. Bringing together key theoretical statements with illuminating analyzes of particular aspects of youth culture - popular music, clubbing, body modification, the internet, etc. - this is an ideal introduction to a diverse and wide-ranging field.

This two-volume set chronicles how technology, economics, the media and society created the modern concept of youth. Topics explored include hip hop culture, punk culture, social justice movements, video games, political activism, post-feminism, television, race and ethnicity, visual art, sports, drugs, and much more.

Siân Lincoln considers the use, role and significance of private spaces in the lives of young people. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research, she explores the place of 'the private' in youth cultural discourses, both historically and contemporarily, that until now have remained largely absent in youth cultural research.

This expansive, lively introduction charts the connections between international youth cultures and the development of global media and communication. From 1950s drive-ins and jukeboxes to contemporary social media, the book examines modern youth cultures in their social, economic, and political contexts. Exploring the rise of young people as a distinct media market, the book examines the relation of youth to modern consumerism, marketing, and digital technologies. The chapters are packed with analysis of media representations of youth, debates about the media’s 'effects' on young audiences, and young people’s use of the media to elaborate identities and negotiate social relationships. Drawing on a wealth of international examples, the book explores the impact of globalisation and new media technologies on youth cultures around the world. Assessing a profusion of worldwide research, the book shows how modern youth cultures can only be understood as part of an international web of connections, exchanges, and experiences. With an ideal balance between detailed examples and engaging analysis, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in youth cultures and the modern media.