Youth Futures Comparative Research and Transformative Visions
Edited by Jennifer Gidley and Sohail Inayatullah
Praeger Publishers. Westport, Conn. September, 2002.

ISBN 0-275-97414-6. C7414
Available from www.greenwood.com, www.amazon.com

 Contributing Authors:

Bilal Aslam, Paul Brunstad, Sandra Burchsted, Marcus Bussey, Richard Eckersley, Riane Eisler, Michael Guanco, Shane Hart, Sabina Head, Eva Hideg, Cathie Holden, Raina Hunter, Francis Hutchinson, Seth Itzkan, Cole Jackson, Erzsebet Novaky, Alfred Oehlers, Anita Rubin, Richard Slaughter, Carmen Stewart, David Wright.

 Endorsements of Youth Futures

 "This book is astounding. In a time of rapid, world-wide transformation dealing with globalization, genomics, terrorism and much else, constructive and creative views of possible futures are essential. This book makes a monumental contribution on youth futures. While we are accustomed to hearing universal rhetoric on the importance of youth to the future, it seldom goes beyond platitudes. In 20 essays the authors present extensive theory and practice, including up to date trans-disciplinary research from around the world. This remarkable book will be a lasting resource for educators, policy makers, youth workers and all people committed to creating a better, brighter and wiser future for future generations." 

- Professor David K. Scott, Former Chancellor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst: 

"Young people are increasingly viewed by scholars, practitioners, and policy makers as vital assets in the development of civil society. This book both gives voice to this positive conception of youth, and documents the power of young people to be active agents in actualizing their own healthy futures and in contributing to social justice and equity across the global community. This book is an impressive resource for all people concerned with understanding and enhancing the strengths of youth to build, sustain, and extend the quality of life in all nations of the world." 

- Professor Richard M. Lerner, Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science
Tufts University, USA

"This exciting and timely book is a milestone, bringing together for the first time international research on youth as both inheritors and creators of the future. Their hopes and fears for tomorrow, as reported here, are central to the future well-being of society - we would do well to listen to them. Essential reading for all those involved with young people, whether in formal or informal contexts, at home, in education or at work." 

- Professor David Hicks, School of Education, Bath Spa University College, UK:

 "The Youth Futures book by Gidley and Inayatullah is a very important contribution because there is so little cross cultural material on adolescence.  It is a much needed antidote to our ethnocentric presentation

of adolescence here in the States". 

- Professor David Elkind, Professor and Chair, Elliott Pearson Department of Child Development,
Tufts University, Medford.  Author of Best-selling Book: The Hurried Child

Description:
Generally, youth are considered immature, irresponsible toward the future, cliquish, impressionistic, and dangerous toward self and others. They are considered as a mass market--two billion strong--the passive recipients of globalization. Most recently in OECD nations, youth have become fodder for political speeches--they are the problem that reflects both the failure of the welfare state (dependence on the state), the failure of globalization (unemployment), and postmodernism (loss of meaning and the crisis of the spirit). In the Third World, youth are seen not only as the problem, but equally as the force that can topple a regime (as in Yugoslavia). However, youth can also be seen as carriers of a new worldview, a new ideology. 

These and other views concerning youth are examined in this volume of comparative empirical research. Studies from around the world provide intriguing answers to questions about how youth see the future and their future roles. This book will be of particular interest to scholars, students, researchers, and policymakers involved with youth issues and future studies. 

Table of Contents:

Preface: Youth Futures: The Terrain by Jennifer Gidley and Sohail Inayatullah

Mapping Youth Futures

·         Global Youth Culture: A Transdisciplinary Perspective by Jennifer Gidley

·         Youth Dissent: Multiple Perspectives on Youth Futures by Sohail Inayatullah

·         Future Visions, Social Realities, and Personal Lives:  by Richard Eckersley

·         Partnership Education for the 21st Century by Riane Eisler

·         Cultural Mapping and Our Children's Futures by Francis Hutchinson

·         From Youth Futures to Futures for All: Reclaiming the Human Story by Marcus Bussey

Youth Essay 1: Optimistic Visions from Australia by Raina Hunter

Comparative Research from Around the Globe

·         Japanese Youth: Rewriting Futures in the "No Taboos" Post-Bubble Millennium by David Wright

·         Reflections upon the Late-Modern Transition as Seen in the Images of the Future Held by Young Finns

by Anita Rubin

·         Imagining the Future: Youth in Singapore by Alfred Oehlers

·         The Future Orientation of Hungarian Youth in the Years of the Transformation by Eva Hideg and Erzsebet Novaky

·         Citizens of the New Century: Perspectives from the UK by Cathie Holden

·         Longing for Belonging: Youth Culture in Norway by Paul Otto Brunstad

·         Holistic Education and Visions of Rehumanized Futures by Jennifer Gidley

Youth Essay 2: Voice of the Future from Pakistan by Bilal Aslam

Case Studies: Teaching Futures in Educational Settings

·         From Rhetoric to Reality: The Emergence of Futures into the Educational Mainstream

by Richard Slaughter

·         Re-Imagining your Neighborhood--A Model of Futures Education by Carmen Stewart

·         Learning with an Active Voice: Children and Youth Creating Preferred Futures

by Cole Jackson, Sandra Burchsted, and Seth Itzkan

·         I Don't Care About the Future (if I Can't Influence it) by Sabina Head

·         Rural Visions of the Future: Futures in a Social Science Class by Shane Hart

·         Youth, Scenarios, and Metaphors of the Future by Sohail Inayatullah

Youth Essay 3: Shared Futures from the Philippines by Michael Guanco

Concluding Reflections by Sohail Inayatullah and Jennifer Gidley

About the Editors:

Jennifer Gidley is an Educational Psychologist and Futures Researcher.

Email: jgidley@scu.edu.au 

Sohail Inayatullah is Professor, Graduate Institute for Futures Studies, Tamkang University, Taiwan, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. www.metafuture.org, info@metafuture.org, Email: s.inayatullah@qut.edu.au