Youth empowerment and information and communication technologies: a case study of a remote Australian Aboriginal community

In spite of a ‘digital divide’, Aboriginal groups in Australia, as internationally, are increasingly using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to maintain their cultures, communicate, archive knowledge, empower their communities, develop skills and generate income. Each community uses the technologies differently in accordance with their particular needs and the opportunities available. The use of ICTs in Aboriginal youth empowerment is illustrated through a case study of an initiative undertaken by the Walkatjurra Cultural Centre in Leonora, remote Western Australia. A participatory process was used to engage the Centre’s young people and they were given individual assistance to develop their ICT related capacity. The community conceives this youth empowerment to be part of a broader youth participation process that will contribute to the Centre’s overall objectives.     

Interpreting amenities,envisioning the future: common ground and conflict in North Carolina’s rural coastal communities

This paper contributes to ongoing discussions about the implications of rural change and amenity migration for members of diverse rural communities. We engage with recent amenity migration and political ecology literature that focuses on social constructions of nature and landscapes, and how these constructions affect the attitudes and opinions of community members. We use our case study of a mail-based survey in Down East, North Carolina to suggest that the ways in which people conceptualize the particular ‘natures’ and landscapes of a place matters in terms of shaping people’s attitudes with respect to ongoing processes of change. We find that people’s opinions about environment, culture, and land use are often superficially similar but that when conflicts arise or particular actions are considered, substantial differences in people’s underlying conceptual frameworks are revealed. In particular we find that despite widespread shared appreciation of the environment and culture Down East, differing interpretations of these key terms lead to potential misunderstandings and land use planning challenges.     

Parents,permission, and possibility: Young women,college, and imagined futures in Gujarat,India

This article advances critical geographies of youth through examining the spatiality implicit in the imagined futures of young women in rural India. Geographers and other scholars of youth have begun to pay more attention to the interplay between young people’s past, present, and imagined futures. Within this emerging body of scholarship the role of the family and peer group in influencing young people’s orientations toward the future remain underexamined. Drawing on eleven months of ethnographic fieldwork, my research focuses on a first generation of college-going young women from socioeconomically marginalized backgrounds in India’s westernmost state of Gujarat. I draw on the “possible selves” theoretical construct in order to deploy a flexible conceptual framework that links imagined post-educational trajectories with motivation to act in the present. In tracing the physical movement of these young women as they navigate and complete college, my analysis highlights the ways in which particular kinds of spaces and spatial arrangements facilitate and limit intra- and inter-generational contact, and the extent to which this affects young women’s conceptions of the future. I conclude by considering the wider implications of my research for ongoing debates surrounding youth transitions, relational geographies of age, and education in the Global South.     

‘We are managing!’ Uncertain paths to respectable adulthoods in Accra, Ghana

Studies have shown that the life experiences and future prospects of young people in many parts of the world today are more complex and less predictable than those of past generations. This has led to a recognition of the need to reconsider the conceptual frameworks applied in youth studies. Thus far, research within geography has mainly focused on young people’s paths to adulthood in the Global North or on particularly vulnerable children’s lives in the Global South. In this paper an approach based on the ‘social navigation’ of ‘vital conjunctures’ is adopted to explore the complex ways in which young people in Ghana navigate their way through life in a city marked by economic hardship and neo-liberal reform. The stories of three young people are presented to show the variety of life conditions, the complex social positions they occupy and their various and shifting future imaginations. The actions of these young people are steered by prevailing cultural ideals and social expectations of what a desirable and respectable future entails and by the actual space of possibility in the urban space they move through. It is argued that achieving respectable adulthoods in present-day Accra is a complicated and convoluted journey involving the careful management of social relationships.     

Locating diversity: race,nativity and place in health disparities research

Nancy Krieger has been one of the leading voices in documenting how social ‘axes of difference’, including race, ethnicity and class make people vulnerable to poor health and limit their access to effective health care. We discuss the importance of ‘locating’ diversity in health inequalities research. This includes critically dissecting racial and ethnic axes into more nuanced social categories that incorporate differences based on immigration and other factors. It also involves considering how diverse population groups vary in their perception and use of space for health-related activities and exposures. Examples relating to immigrant populations’ health and access to health care are discussed.     

Correlates of hazards education for youth: a replication study

Youth and families have been identified as particularly vulnerable to the effects of hazardous events. This study examined correlates of hazards education involvement for youth. Participants were 407 youth between the ages of 7 and 18 who filled out several indices reflecting hazards awareness, risk perceptions, psychological factors, knowledge, and adoption of hazards adjustments and family emergency plans. Additionally, interactive factors were assessed, the extent to which education programs encouraged youth to discuss their learning with parents and whether such discussions occurred. Overall, findings replicated and extended previous research. First, younger children were generally seen to be more prepared; girls, more knowledgeable. Second, youth involved in education programs had significantly higher levels of correct knowledge of readiness and response behaviors, lower levels of incorrect knowledge, and reported more home-based hazards adjustments. One important area where no differences were seen was in the area of family emergency planning. Predictors of increased educational benefits included program recency, encouragement to interact with parents and, to a slightly lesser extent, parent discussion willingness. Combined with previous research indicating that even simple and brief reading and discussion programs can produce tangible benefits, findings here encourage the incorporation of easy-to-do features that can increase benefits for youth and their families.     

Key barriers to community cohesion: views from residents of 20 London deprived neighbourhoods

The notion of community has been central to the political project of renewal of New Labour in the UK. The paper explores how the discourses of community are framed within New Labour and discusses these in the light of the results from research which focuses on how people within urban deprived areas construct their community. It draws upon the results of one part of a larger research project (the ‘Well London’ programme) which aimed to capture the views of residents from 20 disadvantaged neighbourhoods throughout London using an innovative qualitative method known as the ‘World Café’. Our results show the centrality of young people to the development of cohesive communities, the importance of building informal relationships between residents alongside encouraging greater participation to policy making, and the need to see these places as fragile and temporary locations but with considerable social strengths. Government policies are only partially addressing these issues. They pay greater attention to formally encouraging citizens to become more involved in policy making, largely ignore the contribution young people could make to the community cohesion agenda, and weakly define the shared norms and values that are crucial in building cohesive communities. Thus, the conclusion is that whilst an emphasis of the government on ‘community’ is to be welcome, more needs to be done in terms of considering the ‘voices’ of the community as well as enabling communities to determine and act upon their priorities.     

Flexible–inflexible: socio-demographic,spatial and temporal dimensions of flat sharing in Leipzig (Germany)

Flat sharers are one of the most distinct representatives of the ‘new’ household types, but have received only very limited attention from researchers. Back in the 1960s shared flats were usually founded with a strong ideological impetus, whereas flat sharing nowadays is just one household type among many others. Typically, this housing arrangement consists of at least two young adult individuals without children. Sharing the flat and the housing costs is the basis of their relationship but living with others is an additional motive. As a rule, flat sharing bridges two distinct events in the course of one’s life: the leaving of the parental home and the foundation of the first independent household. Thus for a restricted period in time, it is a flexible household type adapted to the situational needs of its members. Germany has one of the strongest and longest traditions of flat sharing in Europe, especially among university students. An explorative study was conducted in Leipzig to come to a deeper understanding of what flat sharing means in its ambivalence of being both an economic unit and a social arrangement. Based on qualitative and quantitative evidence from group discussions and Internet adverts, we shed light on the highly under-researched social practice of flat sharing. We will show that despite the structural flexibility of this household type, there is also evidence for its socio-demographic selectivity, spatial concentration and temporal limitation over the individual life courses.     

Supporting youth-led community geography on the impacts of neighbourhood social infrastructure on young people’s lives: a case study from East Scarborough,Canada

This paper is a reflection on 3 years of youth engagement in neighbourhood-based geographic research on the state of social infrastructure in East Scarborough, Toronto, Canada. It revolves around the evolution of LIFT, a youth-led advocacy group with the mandate to engage youth in community-based research to identify gaps in resources and inform local organizations about youth priorities. Using critical reflection as research method, we explore how community geography can be a responsive approach to the needs of youth to analyze their lived experience and collect data to influence decision-making in their communities. We articulate a series of propositions and core assumptions to inform a non-adultist, youth-focused community geography, highlight the ethical dimensions of this work, as well as discuss the often-complicated institutional and interpersonal dynamics that shape the success and sustainability of youth-led community geography.

     

Globalising initiatives for gender equality and poverty reduction: Exploring ‘failure’ with reference to education and work among urban youth in The Gambia and Ghana

This paper focuses on what observers have perceived to be a failure of development leading to a ‘crisis of youth’ as increasing numbers of young people find it more difficult to gain education, access to health, a job and meet standard of living aspirations. For some, a possible escape is offered by migration to Europe, the United States or Australia, often illegally. For those remaining behind, however, international development agencies offer a ‘globalisation of solutions’ to employment, gender inequality and poverty through the millennium development goals and the programmes to attain them. In this paper we do not take the failures of development at face value but look at local contexts to present a more complex picture of the relation between education, work and social life. Based on fieldwork conducted in urban areas of The Gambia and Ghana, we argue that rather than education as a catch-all solution we need to give more attention to the costs incurred by and for young people in pursuing education and training, to the operation of and actual opportunities in labour markets, and to patterns of gender socialisation which give women limited scope to exercise agency. This paper explores key gender dimensions of work and education among low-income urban youth noting that despite on-going efforts to increase young women’s enrolment in schools and access to employment, gender inequalities have been far from eradicated. Our field interviews reveal how social expectations that women should perform the bulk of reproductive labour in their youth as well as in adulthood and constraints placed on young women’s personal freedom in respect of their social relationships reduce time dedicated to education and establish fewer contacts relevant to securing paid employment. The result is for men to end up with more educational qualifications, more skills, and higher-paying jobs, even if unemployment among young people in general remains a major problem.     

Stuck in transition? Exploring the spaces of employment training for youth with intellectual disability

This paper is concerned with the experiences of young adults with intellectual disabilities as they transition from high school in search of paid employment. The experiences of people with intellectual disability remain under-researched within geography. We use qualitative techniques to examine the experiences of six young adults with intellectual disabilities. Data are drawn from interviews with the youth themselves, their parents, and employers, as well as from participant observation at an employment training program for the intellectually disabled. While the primary goal of the youth and their parents was to make a transition to competitive paid work, a lack of transition planning, a shortage of appropriate opportunities and other factors meant the youth spent considerable time in ‘transitional spaces’ such as the vocational training centre, sheltered workshop, and supported employment placements. While these spaces are organized around an explicitly economic goal of augmenting the youth’s employability, they can play a critical role as spaces for social interaction and meaningful activity outside the home. Study findings point to the importance of moving beyond paid employment as the core of a successful transition to consider a broader goal of ‘meaningful activity’.     

Geochronology of Early Precambrian strata in Northeastern Hubei Province

Northeastern Hubei Province, as a part of the Qinling fold system, is located in the transition zone between the North China platform and the Yangtze paraplatform. This tectonic unit is of particular significance in the study of the Dabieshan Group and Tongbaishan Group strata. The paper summarizes the author’s recent studies on the geochronology of these strata. By taking into account the regionally metamorphic characteristics, the geochronology of the Early Precambrian strata in the region studied has been established. The lower subgroup of the Dabieshan Group is Late Archean in age, while the upper subgroup of Lhe Dabieshan Group and the Tongbaishan Group are Early Proterozoic in age, the Dabieshan movement is dated at 1950 ± 50Ma, which is also the age of the boundary between the Lower and Middle Proterozoic.     

Possible selves in a precarious labour market: Youth,imagined futures,and transitions to work in the UK

In this paper we suggest that a construct known as “possible selves”, which has been developed in psychological literature, holds conceptual merits that are of use to a growing body of literature on youth transitions, and within it, an increasing interest in imagined futures. We highlight several benefits of possible selves that have emerged from our empirical research with young men in two English towns, Luton and Swindon. Research and theorization about youth futures has suggested that young people’s values and their perceived positions in society can be elicited and seen in their projections of themselves in the future. We conclude that possible selves provides a useful addition to this literature by offering a theorization of the link between imagined possibilities in the future and motivation to act in the present. We suggest that this construct opens the scope of empirical and theoretical enquiry into youth transitions and trajectories toward future possibilities.     

ICL Latin-American Network: on the road to landslide reduction capacity building

There is a clear need for integrated research on landslide disaster risk. Landslide disasters have major impacts in developing countries due to the increasing social vulnerability of both rural and urban communities. In recent decades, landslide disasters in Latin America triggered by both precipitation and earthquakes have also increased considerably. Thus, scientific contributions based on integrated risk research are quite urgent for improving the knowledge base for reducing the vulnerability of exposed communities to landslides. Thus, there is a parallel necessity to promote capacity building for young scientists in Latin America by considering the shift of disaster paradigm to recognize the “unnaturalness” of disasters. Under such a framework, there are particular goals to be pursued including: (1) Development of landslide regional networks with a commitment for understanding risk as a socially constructed process; (2) Engagement of young scientists in integrated landslide risk research; (3) Inducing a scientific multi- and transdisciplinary approach for integrated landslide risk research; (4) Development and implementation of capacity building; (5) Contributing to the dissemination and application of common methodologies on landslide disasters investigations; and (6) Strengthening collaboration on integrated landslide disaster risk research in Latin America. In this paper, we present one of the main activities of the ICL Latin-American network in terms of capacity building carried out in 2013; to that end, the first international workshop on forensic investigations of disasters associated with landslides was held in the University of Sciences and Arts of Chiapas in the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico, from June 26th to July 4th, 2013.     

Understanding youth transition as ‘Becoming’: Identity, time and futurity

Drawing on recent work in psychology, philosophy, and youth geographies, this article responds to calls for theoretical rigour in children’s geographies by developing the concept of becoming for youth transitions research. Becoming has been used by psychologist Gordon Allport (1955) in his work on the processual nature of personal identity, while Elizabeth Grosz (1999) has used the concept of becoming to explore conceptions of time as a lived experience, focusing on the dynamics of time as duration. This article uses the unifying concept of futurity to tie together the works of Allport and Grosz, exploring how the concept of becoming can be used to consider the inherent complexities of contemporary youth transitions. To demonstrate the value of working with these reconceptualizations, examples of becoming will be explored through research with visually impaired young people. This research productively uses narrative and a life mapping technique to capture the messiness of becoming, seeing transition through the scale of a life and important life events.     

Tropical cyclone risk perceptions in Darwin,Australia: a comparison of different residential groups

Different individuals and groups perceive risk differently. This can significantly affect risk management and mitigation practices and requirements. This paper presents findings from a study of tropical cyclone risk perceptions in the city of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. Primary in-depth interview data and other secondary data are analysed, focussing in particular on wind damage, storm surge and life safety risk perceptions of residents since Cyclone Tracy, which impacted in 1974, and perceptions of future climate change as it relates to tropical cyclone risk. The analysis reveals that a number of perceptions prevail. In particular, the study reveals a wide difference of perceptions between short-term residents (Group 1) and long-term and expert residents (Group 2) in relation to wind damage, storm surge and life safety risk. It also reveals a large division between laypersons (Group 3) and expert residents’ (Group 4) perceptions of climate change risk as it relates to tropical cyclone risk. The author recommends that flexible, multiple and integrative management and mitigation approaches are required to deal with such different perceptions and divisions in the resident population.     

‘Through children’s eyes’: childhood, place and the fear of crime

This article seeks to bring young respondents more sharply into focus by considering fear of crime ‘through children’s eyes’. By incorporating children’s perspectives it is argued that more inclusive and integrative community safety initiatives may arise. Inspired by the recent flowering of research undertaken in childhood studies by social and cultural geographers, the study seeks to make a theoretical, empirical and spatial contribution to debates in the field. Based on the findings of a large-scale school survey, the responses indicate that children have an acute place-based sensitivity to a range of highly relevant community safety issues. This includes detailed reflections concerning the place of policing, boredom, youth gangs, motorcars and drugs in their neighbourhoods. It is suggested that the inclusion of children’s accounts into geographical debates not only enriches our knowledge of childhood studies, but also adds detail and texture to our understandings of fear of crime.     

Feeling Slow Food: Visceral fieldwork and empathetic research relations in the alternative food movement

This paper details the author’s experiments with accessing the visceral realm in research on the food-based social movement, Slow Food (SF). “Visceral” is defined as the bodily realm where feelings, sensations, moods and so on are experienced. Fieldwork methods aimed at participatory co-creation of data through verbal communications in the form of in-depth conversations and group discussions, as well as non-verbal communications in the form of “intentionally designed experiences” and other forms of sensory involvement. Communications centered on understanding how foods and food-based settings elicit feelings and sensations that move and power bodies differently, and specifically how SF guides bodies to be affected by specific foods and environments. The paper details how data were created and recorded, specifically exploring how sensory-based research events were translated to data through the creation of imagined bodily empathies. The paper also discusses the emergence of change-oriented communications that pushed for transformation in SF’s (in)attention to visceral differences, thus demonstrating how visceral research can challenge researchers and participants to critically reflect upon, and perhaps transform, how their own bodies feel (and respond to) the world.     

Migrant times beyond the life course: The temporalities of foreign English teachers in South Korea

The study of life course has become a central feature of geographical and other social science approaches to youth and migration. It has offered scholars possibilities to explore the timing of events, experiences of time and in the context of migration, the opportunity to analyse mobility patterns in relation to life stages and transitions. Yet, despite this emphasis, much life-course research rests on a limited understanding of time characterised as a linear or even static entity that regulates life in a way that occludes the complex directionality and rhythms of time. In this paper we seek to push beyond these limitations of life course research by developing broader theoretical understandings of time in migration. In particular, we develop a Heideggerian analysis of the migration stories of western English teachers in South Korea, an example of migration as part of a youth–adult transition. Our analysis reveals that the mobilities of English teachers need to be understood in much more complex and relational ways and we draw attention to their more-than-subjective temporalities, questions of attunement to being (affect) and temporal openness in migration. Through this discussion the paper highlights three key areas for further development of scholarly understandings of time in migration: the situatedness of migrants, the holistic character of migration as a happening in the world, and the eventfulness of migration, always characterised by an openness of possibility for emergent spatio-temporal differentiation.     

Landscapes of flexibility or landscapes of marginality? spaces of livelihood formation in a changing South African city

This article examines the idea of ‘flexibility’ within the context of a city. It uses the idea of livelihoods to contribute to the debates on flexibility, particularly on the role that ordinary people play in the transformative potential of cities. A closer examination of ordinary people’s activities show that although livelihoods are crucial to how they adapt to the changing social and economic conditions, such activities largely constitute survival strategies. Importantly, and without subscribing to a paradigm that promotes a city as a closed space, the continuing socio-spatial divisions in the city of Rustenburg, South Africa underscore the fact that ordinary people’s remarkable resourcefulness occurs under circumstances of marginality.