ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. Globalization is one of the central philosophemes of our era, a focal objectification of lived experience in space and time, and a concept that continues to help explain the fundamental dynamics of human experience today. It references the ever-accelerating interconnections of diverse human lives at the political, economic, social and cultural levels. Globalization is to draw attention to the way violence, uncertainty and, in some instances, possibility, have become markers of young lives, as the forces of markets, technological. As the notion of youth culture emerged in the West in the early to mid-twentieth century, for instance, to be young seemed tied to experiences of transition and flux, which in turn gave shape to the identities, sexualities and dreams of youthful subjects. In particular, phenomenology requires people to question whether research is delivering the fullness of meaning suggested by the hermeneutic process of understanding.
