A Review of Evolving Paradigms in Youth Studies

Abstract

This article focuses on the changes experienced by European youth because of the neoliberal globalised model. It analyses the impact of these socio-economic changes on school-to-work transitions and explores different theoretical perspectives (from the linear to pinball models) to understand them from a critical point of view centred on the individual. These transformations have caused the traditional markers of passage to adulthood to become diluted, generating de-standardised trajectories with possible “round-trip” states. The aim is to provide an understanding of youth-related phenomena under models described with the sociology of transition, exploring aspects such as reversibility and contextual influence on their life course.