Abstract
Young people are often astute in the diverse ways in which they resist and challenge assumptions and obstacles. We think it is necessary to champion young people’s energy, creativity and sense of social justice. In this introductory chapter to an edited collection on the themes of identities, youth and belonging, we highlight the reasons we believe it is important to investigate the ways that young people construct meaningful identities for themselves in distinct contexts—for example in educational institutions, in places of worship, in virtual environments, or in the street and in spaces of consumption. We argue that international work is necessary when theorising and reporting on empirical case studies about young people, place and space. We also provide a brief introduction to the international chapters we have collated in this significant and timely book that gives readers an insight into what it means to be a young person in urban locales in contemporary times.
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Notes
- 1.
Born between 1982 and 2002 ‘Millennials’, also known as Generation Y, are “unlike any other youth generation in living memory. They are more numerous, more affluent, better educated, and more ethnically diverse” (Howe & Strauss, 2000, p. 4).
- 2.
The empirical studies in this book refer to the category of youth in a broad sense. On how to define young people, see Furlong, A. (2013). Youth studies: An introduction. Abingdon: Routledge. Also see Hopkins, P. E. (2010). Young people, place and identity. Abingdon: Routledge.
- 3.
Mondal (2017, p. 20) argues that “a proper understanding of our social relations” necessitates “painstaking qualitative analysis of what people actually think, feel and believe—and the ways in which they express themselves”.
- 4.
Morris (2017) describes how young British Muslims are finding a voice to reflect upon their socio-political experiences, religiosity and sense of belonging through music. When it comes to worship, again young British Muslims have been shown to assert their sense of agency by merging their sense of Islam with their political activism (Mustafa, 2017).
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Habib, S., Ward, M.R.M. (2019). Youth Negotiating Belonging in a Global World. In: Habib, S., Ward, M.R.M. (eds) Identities, Youth and Belonging. Studies in Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96113-2_1
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