ABSTRACT
The book aims at a thorough investigation of critical dimensions of the socio-economic and labour market trajectories and prospects of young people Not in Employment, Education and Training (NEETs) in disadvantaged areas of the Mediterranean Southern Europe, namely in island, coastal or peripheral regions of Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Spain. Moreover, it aims at linking youth’s social situation and dynamics with certain broader processes of socio-economic flexibilisation and labour precariousness, thus highlighting the important role that spatial inequalities and injustices play in the reproduction of the precarious position of NEETs. The book presents the findings of ongoing theoretically informed, mixed-method research on this field which includes extensive primary material collected in the aforementioned target regions during 2019 and 2020. More specifically it draws upon:
Research on young NEETs (between 25 and 29 years of age) in disadvantaged areas of Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Spain which systematically investigates processes of social exclusion and precariousness. Due to its focus, research sheds light on areas which are under-researched, as very few relevant generic studies are available. Furthermore, it links social and spatial dimensions across different scales and fields of inquiry such as the labour market, family and social reproduction, gender, ethnicity/nationality, age etc.
Research on relatively more disadvantaged, vulnerable and socially excluded groups of NEETs: women and migrants/asylum seekers and refugees.
A mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods applied across target areas. The most recent secondary quantitative data is utilised. Primary quantitative data in all target areas and primary qualitative data through a series of in-depth interviews with young NEETs are combined with participant observation. The logic and complementarity of applying different methods is fully explicated in the book and generally serves purposes such as highlighting different dimensions of phenomena and processes, capturing a more holistic (extensive and intensive) picture of the phenomena at hand and helping in answering different types of research questions.
Research is critically based on existing theories in the field, but most importantly it aims at theorising the findings with the help of specific meta-theoretical and theoretical frameworks. More specifically, the book adopts the meta-theoretical framework of critical realism as a guide to its methodology and as a means for the theorisation of research results. Thus, critical realism and this research alike pay attention to the specific ways that cultural, structural and agential factors and processes interact with each other and produce certain outcomes (e.g. reproduction of social and spatial inequalities and injustices related to NEETs’ social situation, or prospects and dynamics which offer opportunities for social change). The book takes a critical theoretical stance, that is, it theorises the complex socio-spatial mechanisms which lead to certain power asymmetries and produce/reproduce socio-spatial injustices and exclusions.
Investigating the socio-economic contexts and trajectories of young women and migrant / asylum seeker / refugee NEETs between 25 and 29 years of age in island and coastal areas of Southern European countries, the book makes a substantial theoretical and empirical contribution in a field that is still extremely under-researched, especially in Southern Europe. Moreover, the book concerns the policy context of the most important processes which lead to social exclusions and precariousness along with contemporary actual or future policy responses related to those processes.