Imagining the future in a difficult present: storylines from spanish youth

Abstract

This paper examines Spanish juveniles’ effort to imagine the future in times of uncertainty. The breakdown of youth strategies to adulthood exacerbates the disarticulation of imagined futures. ‘Presentism’ is further intensified by the 2008 crisis, making it difficult for youth to ‘find their place in the world’. Our evidence comes from biographical narratives collected in the form of ‘letters’ written by Spanish university students. Borrowing from literature on youth transitions, temporal sociology and situated culture, we develop a narrative analysis which shows how, in the process of imagining their future, Spanish youth are reconsidering their expectations and generating new solutions. Their accounts show how they manage to connect their individual experiences with the collective, generational dimension.