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This book explores how the youth experience, viscerally felt and deeply ingrained at a time of substantial physical, psychological and emotional changes, serves to authenticate that youth experience to the exclusion of that of ensuing youth generations.
Using Cohen's concept of moral panic to frame the intergenerational conflict, notions of generational exclusivity and authenticity are explored through Bourdieu's concept of habitus - how each generation privileges its own youth experience as the 'standard' by which other youth generations can be judged. Shared authenticated 'generational understandings' act as the benchmark by which ensuing youth generations can be assessed and found wanting. Intergenerational conflict has been brought into sharp focus by the emergence of the Millennial generation, digital natives, with their obsession with digital technology and particularly mobile phones.
The book will be of interest for the field of youth studies in general, particularly upper-level undergraduate youth studies courses and postgrads and social scientists. In addition, it will be of interest for scholars interested in the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Stanley Cohen and subject areas: intergenerational conflict, social change, popular culture, music, media and cultural studies, and social theory.
List of contents
1. Introduction
2. The Alchemy of Consecration
3. Growing Up
4. Adulthood - The Final Destination
5. Memory, Certainty, Significance
6. Appropriate or inappropriate? The Aesthetic Solera and Habitus
7. Music - The Past in the Present
8. Feeding The Moral Panic - The Millennial Shorthand Portrait
9. Conclusion
About the author
Barney Langford is a retired teacher and youth arts practitioner. He is the founding Artistic Director of 2 Til 5 Youth Theatre (now Tantrum Youth Arts), one of Australia's leading professional youth arts companies. He was for 15 years the Manager of the Loft Youth Arts and Cultural Centre. He lectured part time at University of Newcastle 1990-2003. He was awarded his doctorate in 2020 and his doctoral dissertation is the basis for this monograph. Barney's interests include youth arts, youth studies and psephology.
