40 Years of Youth Studies in Spain and Their Contribution to Social Images of Youth

Abstract

This chapter offers an overview of the development of youth studies in Spain over the last forty years. Firstly, we analyze social images of youth in relation to the social and political changes in the Spanish society. These images of youth reflect the contradictory way that adult society views young people. The second part analyzes the main research findings in youth studies, with emphasis on the similarities and differences between social images and research results. The analysis also focuses on identifying manifestations of youth diversity, particularly social class and gender differences. We analyze the changes and internal differences within the youth population in their values and attitudes towards politics. Then, we explore the dominant image of precariousness currently associated with youth, contemplating the postponement of transitions and, above all, class differences. Later, we outline how youth studies have contributed to de-problematizing many subcultural manifestations of youth by framing them as symbolic constructions that are also affected by structural differences. Finally, emphasis is placed on the diversity of manifestations of youth sociability. The chapter concludes by attempting to identify the differences between young people in each of the dimensions explored, with the aim of fostering diversity as a crosscutting issue.