ABSTRACT
No analysis of youth, education and work can be undertaken without reference to political formations and structures of economic relations. While the final years of the twentieth century have seen developments in political and economic cooperation between nation-states, the most resounding impact upon consciousness has been in relation to processes of disintegration. This was exemplified by the destruction of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe but also by an accompanying resurgence of nationalism. On the other hand, there has been the development of an ever-expanding European Union, fundamental changes in the productive technological base with the corollary of restructured employment, and an increasing globalization of the economy. This latter phenomenon has, of course, involved the further uncoupling of consumption from production, as manufacturing capacity locks in with low-cost labour wherever it is located in the world.
