Connections and disconnections

The theme of this issue of Perspectives on youth is Connections and disconnections. The authors contributed articles on migration, employment mobility, new familial relations, the Internet and new media, young people’s social and political engagement, their connections with their own countries, with Europe or the wider world, and intercultural contacts in general, and others besides.

They addressed the potential benefits but also the tensions and contradictions that were inherent in contemporary social, cultural, economic and technological changes. Such changes were creating opportunities for young people to connect in new and positive ways with other young people, with their families and communities and with social institutions, in ways that increasingly 'cross borders' of various kinds. But it was also clear that these changes do not always take place in a smooth or mutually complementary way: expanded opportunities were not necessarily enhanced opportunities; increased participation in education had not translated into more and better employment prospects; societies and communities were increasingly diverse and yet some perceived this as a threat rather than an opportunity.

A related question arose as to whether the policies that were designed both to shape and respond to young people’s circumstances and the resulting practices were themselves appropriately connected or disconnected with each other.