ABSTRACT
A brief overview is presented of perspectives on current thinking on youth to contextualise the themed issue of Contemporary Social Science entitled ‘Investigating Youth in Challenging and Troubled Contexts’. This provides an overview of up-to-date interdisciplinary, international research that investigates the complex dynamics of youth in contemporary society, especially in troubled and crisis-ridden contexts. The studies are brought together from many countries and cultures, including Ethiopia, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Brazil, Hong Kong, Kuwait, India, Israel, Britain, Italy, Malta, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus. Taken together the 15 papers show that current youth research contributes significantly to understanding emergent dynamic transformations which are reshaping the social structure (including politics and democracy), taking place at both local and global levels.
