Making Youth: A History of Youth in Modern Britain (Social History in Perspective, 29)

This new study explores how British youth was made, and how it made itself, over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Urbanisation and industrialisation brought challenges that altered how young people were both perceived and understood. As adults found it difficult to comprehend the rapidity of societal change, focus on the young intensified, and they became a symbol of uncertainty about the future. Highlighting both change and striking continuity, Melanie Tebbutt traces the origins and development of key themes and debates in the history of modern British youth. Current issues such as the ageing of western societies, high levels of youth unemployment and the potential for social and political unrest make this a timely study. Cover Contents Acknowledgements Making Youth: A History of Youth inModern Britain Introduction Defining youth The emergence of modern youth Key themes and moments of transition Chapter outlines 1 Working Youth and Educating the Young Young people at work Youth employment from the end of the First World War Class and schooling Educating working-class youth 2 Troublemaking and Imposing Order The juvenile criminal justice system Trends in the treatment of youth crime The ebb and flow of punishment and rehabilitation Conclusion 3 Organised and Unorganised Youth Youth gangs Organised youth movements Political youth Containing youth in a changing world Youth-led anti-racist activism The evolution of a state-funded youth service 4 Policing Sexual Behaviour Sexual reputation Class distinctions in courtship Sexual boundaries Youth and same-sex activities Wartime transgressions Post-war trends 5 Leisure and Consumption Youth consumption in the nineteenth century Cultures of girls and young women Rebellious and disaffected styles Post-war youth Shaping a national youth culture 6 New Youth Identities Youth in the long 1960s Counter-cultures and political radicalism Black youth: creative otherness Youth sub-cultures Punk and girl power Conclusion 7 Youth Transforming Postscript Notes Bibliography Index This new study explores how British youth was made, and how it made itself, over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Adopting a chronological approach to a number of key themes and debates, Melanie Tebbutt compares and contrasts representations and lived experiences while emphasising diversity and the need to recognise regional differences. This study explores how British youth was made, and how it made itself, over the 19th and 20th centuries. Adopting a chronological approach to a number of key themes and debates, Melanie Tebbutt compares and contrasts representations and lived experiences while emphasising diversity and the need to recognise regional differences