Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a closer amalgamation of youth and leisure theories than previous interpretations of youth cultures. It shows that to understand youth cultures we must draw upon theories about leisure’s properties and role in modern societies, and that introducing leisure theories allows to put rival interpretations of adolescence to compatible and more effective uses. The book outlines notes correspondences and points of disagreement in existing theories of adolescence, then the role of leisure, and distinguishes different interpretations of youth cultures’ sources and consequences. It reviews the development of youth cultures since the Second World War. The book concludes with questions for further research to pursue and answer about past and present young people’s leisure, in addition to future developments that wider social trends have already set in store.