Includes bibliographical references and index.

A complex uncertainty: young people in the middle of the present Enzo Colombo and Paola RebughiniPart I: Complexity1. Learning (not) to labor: how middle-class young adults look for creative jobs in a precarious time in ItalyLorenzo Domaneschi2. Negotiating reality through the presumption of the 'unreal' self: young people's identities in an age of economic precarity Konstantinos Theodoridis, Steven Miles and Kevin Albertson3. `Flexi-lives': facing the mobility imperative Valentina Cuzzocrea Part II: Uncertainty4. Fragile transitions from education to employment: youth, gender and migrant status in the EUCetin Celik, Fatos Goeksen, Alpay Filiztekin, Ibrahim OEker, and Mark Smith5. Precarious and creative: youth facing uncertainty in labor marketSonia Bertolini, Valentina Moiso, and Marge Unt6. Youth and precariousness in Spain: beyond a waiting time Benjamin Tejerina 7. The myth of flexibility: young adults' expectations of work in the digital economy in MilanAlessandro Gandini and Luisa Leonini8. Uncertainty management strategies in the process of identity formation of Polish young adults Monika Banas Part III: Involvement9. Young women of Muslim background in France and Britain: personal and public projects Daniele Joly10. They are occupying the city: from social housing to the theatreAntimo Luigi Farro and Simone Maddanu11. 'I would rather choose a mixed school': young people's secondary school choice in a low-income, multi-ethnic neighborhood Kirsten Visser12. Our Nation's Future: youth visions of a post-Brexit BritainMarco Antonsich, Panagiota Sotiropoulou, Leila Wilmers, Cuomu Zhaxi and Sophie-Louise Hyde

Youth and the Politics of the Present presents a range of topical sociological investigations into various aspects of the everyday practices of young adults in different European contexts. Indeed, this volume provides an original and provocative investigation of various current central issues surrounding the effects of globalization and the directions in which Western societies are steering their future. Containing a wide range of empirical and comparative examples from across Europe, this title highlights how young adults are trying to implement new forms of understanding, interpretation, and action to cope with unprecedented situations; developing new forms of relationships, identifications and belonging while they experience new and unprecedented forms of inclusion and exclusion. Grounding this exploration is the suggestion that careful observations of the everyday practices of young adults can be an excellent vantage point to grasp how and in what direction the future of contemporary Western societies is heading. Offering an original and provocative investigation, Youth and the Politics of the Present will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as Youth Studies, Globalization Studies, Migration Studies, Gender Studies, and Social Policy.