ABSTRACT
When, in the days of World War II, Karl Mannheim looked forward to a reconstructed post-war Britain, he emphasized the important role that youth must play if progress and change were to be achieved. ‘I believe that static societies which develop only gradually, and in which the rate of change is relatively slow, will rely mainly on the experience of the old.’ 1 A dynamic society, on the other hand, would accord youth a high status: a frustrated and stagnant Britain had failed to give youth ‘its proper place and share in public life.’ 2 Although Mannheim was aware that the driving force of the young originated in large measure from their ‘outsider’ position, 3 he saw no inconsistency in urging that they should become insiders: ‘the dynamic societies which want to make a new start, whatever their social or political philosophy may be, will rely mainly on the co-operation of youth. They will organize their vital resources and will use them in breaking down the established direction of social development.’
