The Crisis of Global Youth Unemployment

Description

Since the economic and financial crisis of 2008, the proportion of unemployed young people has exceeded any other group of unemployed adults. This phenomenon marks the emergence of a laborscape. This concept recognizes that, although youth unemployment is not consistent across the world, it is a coherent problem in the global political economy. This book examines this crisis of youth unemployment, drawing on international case studies. It is organized around four key dimensions of the crisis: precarity, flexibility, migration, and policy responses. With contributions from leading experts in the field, the chapters offer a dynamic portrait of unemployment and how this is being challenged through new modes of resistance. This book provides cross-national comparisons, both ethnographic and quantitative, to explore the contours of this laborscape on the global, national, and local scales. Throughout these varied case studies is a common narrative from young workers, families, students, volunteers, and activists facing a new and growing problem. This book will be an imperative resource for students and researchers looking at the sociology of globalization, global political economy, labor markets, and economic geography. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of figures List of tables List of contributors Acknowledgements 1. Global laborscapes of youth unemployment: Introduction Global laborscapes Contours of global unemployment Concluding remarks Notes References 2. Youth unemployment and unnecessary intergenerational conflict Young and in trouble A few stylized facts” Economic theory and youth unemployment Elementary economics and unpleasant arithmetic Squandered youth Appendix Notes References 3. Precarity in Japan: After the “Lost Decade” Interpreting youth unemployment and precarity Japanese capitalism and precariousness The language of precarity and precarious labor: creating the lost generation? Precarity: challenges and opportunities Conclusion: accounting for and the consequences of precarity in Japan Notes References 4. Youth “volunteers,” unemployment, and international action in Pakistan’s health sector: “I need money, that’s the only reason I do it” The context of female youth labor in Pakistan The larger political-economic context The global polio eradication initiative Volunteerism in global health Polio eradication’s volunteers The polio worker murders Rethinking volunteerism Notes References 5. Dealing with joblessness: Young people’s life trajectory through “non-work” activities in Buenos Aires, Argentina Neoliberal transformations Concluding remarks: youth unemployment and access to life Notes References 6. Contrasting discourses surrounding gendered representations of young migrants negotiating for work on the South African border Introduction Contextualizing Zimbabwe and South Africa The official discourse: anti-child work The unofficial discourse: pro-child work Consequences of the multiple and contradictory representations of independent migrant children Conclusion Acknowledgements References 7. The rise of the J-1 Summer Work Travel program and its rhetorical links to US youth unemployment The relationship between the J-1 SWT program and youth unemployment: data gaps and rhetorical durability The history of the J-1 SWT program: from noble beginnings to a dramatic transformation A contemporary snapshot of the SWT program Conclusion Notes References 8. Irish youth unemployment and emigration, 2009–2014 Background to the crisis Unemployment and emigration: a dual loss Privileging masculinity in the popular culture of emigration The Gathering: managing emigration, marketing return We’re not leaving: popular resistance Conclusion Notes References 9. Youth unemployment, neoliberal reforms, and emigration in West Africa Trends and the rise of youth unemployment in Africa From neoliberalism to declining social integration Topology of destinations reconsidered Conclusion Notes References 10. Sitting amid a pile of jewels: Youth unemployment and waste recycling in China Youth, informality, and survival practices Youth unemployment and waste recycling in contemporary China A political economy of variegated capitalism Notes References 11. The youth wage subsidy in South Africa: A controversial proposal to respond to mass youth unemployment The youth unemployment crisis in South Africa Conclusion Notes References 12. The right to work and the youth unemployment crisis in Spain Why are there such high levels of youth unemployment in Spain? Conclusion References 13. Bad schools, no jobs, full jails: Mass incarceration and a monumental incentive failure Preamble: in remembrance of Bob Prasch Bad jobs, no jobs, full jails, and the failure of self-interest Stylized facts about mass incarceration The simple economics of the school to prison pipeline Conclusion Notes References Index