From the 1960s onwards, Japan's rapid economic growth coincided with remarkably low youth unemployment. However, since the 1990s the ease with which young people have historically moved from education to employment has ended, and unemployment is now a real and growing problem. This book examines how the state, experts, the media as well as youth workers, have responded to the troubling rise of youth joblessness in 21st century Japan.

Provides an introductory overview of the professional practice of youth work and youth development. This book captures the elements that make youth work a unique and powerful experience for those working with young people. Topics include adolescence as a life stage, historical perspectives, approaches and orientations to youth work, practical program and leadership strategies, ethics, multi-culturalism, policy formation, professional career development and more!

A New Youth? provides a cross-cultural perspective on the challenges and problems posed by young people's transition to adulthood. The authors address questions such as: What are the experiences of being young in different European countries? What can we learn about the differences of being young in non-European countries? Are young people developing new attitudes towards society? What are the risks associated with the transition of youth to adulthood? Can we identify new attitudes about citizenship? On a more general level, are there experiences and new social meanings associated with youth? The volume is comparative between various European and non-European countries in order to identify the emerging models of transition. These characteristics are connected with broader social, political and cultural changes: changes related to extended education, increasing women's participation in the labour market, changing welfare regimes, as well as changes in political regimes and in the representation and construction of individual identities and biographies, towards an increasing individualization. The work offers critical reflections in the realm of sociology of youth by providing broader understandings of the term 'youth'. The detailed analysis of new forms of marginality and social exclusion among young people offers valuable insight for policy development and political debate.

"There is a widespread perception that the foundations of American democracy are dysfunctional and little is likely to emerge from traditional politics that will shift those conditions. Youth are often seen as emblematic of this crisis--frequently represented as uninterested in political life and ill-informed about current-affairs. By Any Media Necessary offers a profoundly different picture of contemporary American youth. Young men and women are tapping into the potential of new forms of communication, such as social media platforms and spreadable videos and memes, seeking to bring about political change--by any media necessary. In a series of case studies covering a diverse range of organizations, networks, and movements--from the Harry Potter Alliance, which fights for human rights in the name of the popular fantasy franchise, to immigration-rights advocates using superheroes to dramatize their struggles--By Any Media Necessary examines the civic imagination at work. Exploring new forms of political activities and identities emerging from the practice of participatory culture, By Any Media Necessary reveals how these shifts in communication have unleashed a new political dynamism in American youth."--Book jacket.

“Paints a telling portrait of this most restless generation raised in a system that has provided them with unprecedented personal opportunities while denying them political ones. . . . A gifted observer.”—Washington Post "Informative and often humorous . . . Presents a refreshing range of perspectives about being twenty-something in China."—Forbes “Masterfully crafted.”—Los Angeles Review of Books “A perceptive and quietly profound book.”—Booklist, starred review "Compelling and beautifully written."—Prospect China’s new youth are the generation that will change China. Offspring of the one-child policy, with no memory of Tiananmen, they are destined to transform both their nation and the world. Understanding their motivations, dreams, and attitudes is possibly the most important gauge of China’s future direction as it plays an increasingly important role in shaping this century. China’s New Youth follows the lives of six young Chinese as they navigate their aspirations, discontents, politics, and love lives. Their stories include a netizen nationalist, a country migrant, the daughter of a Party member, a rising pop star, and a feminist entrepreneur. With intimate access to this diverse generation, Alec Ash—a young writer based in China since 2012—gives a vivid, immersive, fascinating account of young China as it comes of age. China's New Youth was originally published in hardcover until the title Wish Lanterns: Young Lives in New China. The new paperback edition has been updated with a new preface and afterword by the author and a new foreword by Karoline Kan.

Why do some children excel and some struggle? Why are some children who face many of life's greatest adversities able to overcome great risks and experience success and others do not? Author Rick Miller has spent 45 years educating, advocating, caring for, and supporting the futures of all youth. He has dedicated his professional life to disproving the claim that all children are "at risk". He believes all children are, in fact, "at hope". This book explores this breadth of understanding from a research, academic, and practitioner's perspective and translates complicated theory into straightforward and powerful expressions about what is best for today's youth. Youth Development discusses universal truths and tools that children need to not only survive but thrive at home and in school. The author has created a culture of embracing children "at hope", where every child is capable of success, no exceptions!