Youth futures under construction

Abstract: The articles presented here engage with some of the multifaceted and intersecting challenges faced by young people today – these include conflict, insecurity, limited government support, deep-set gender discrimination, climate change, infectious disease and a widespread lack of decent jobs. While recognising the structural influences on young people’s circumstances, the articles gathered here bring young people’s perspectives, experiences and actions to the fore. With an eye on the future, and a sense of the past, this collection is situated in the resent. Most of the research presented here stems from the British Academy’s Youth Futures research funding scheme. The results showcased here remind us how the present matters in and of itself, while influenced by the past and playing a key role in shaping the future. Thus there is a triple significance to understanding young people’s challenges: they matter for today and for how they impact tomorrow, and will be best understood with reference to the past.

Keywords: young people, participation, conflict, discrimination, climate change, employment

Article posted to the Journal of the British Academy, volume 11, supplementary issue 3 (Being and Becoming: Uncertain Youth Futures)