Young People’s Aspirations in an Uncertain World: Taking Control of the Future?

Nicola Ansell, Peggy Froerer and Roy Huijsmans
Additional contact information
Nicola Ansell: Brunel University London, UK
Peggy Froerer: Brunel University London, UK
Roy Huijsmans: Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Sociological Research Online, 2022, vol. 27, issue 4, 795-802

Abstract: The future for young people worldwide is characterised by multiple uncertainties, particularly perhaps in countries of the Global South. There is a growing and pervasive expectation that these uncertainties need to be responded to, both by institutions and individuals, so that young people are prepared for an unpredictable and changing world. ‘Raising aspirations’ is expected to play an instrumental role in preparing young people to confront a constantly changing world. Of the four articles that constitute this special section, two explore institutional efforts to shape young people’s aspirations to build new kinds of (national and individual) future, while the other two focus on the messier, more fluid ways in which young people reorient themselves in relation to unpredictable events. Together, they highlight how interventions designed to produce flexible creative individuals largely ignore how young people already live their lives in responsive and creative ways.

Keywords: aspiration; future; uncertainty; young people; youth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13607804221133116 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socres:v:27:y:2022:i:4:p:795-802

DOI: 10.1177/13607804221133116

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Sociological Research Online
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().