ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the conceptual starting points that have helped us understand the changing nature of the youth labour markets and which inform some of the analysis offered in subsequent chapters of this book. It explores unemployment, insecurity and work-poor young adults in harsh economic conditions in the United Kingdom using contemporary and historical/legacy data. In adopting a longer-term analytic approach, the chapter then draws inspiration from the sociological practice of Norbert Elias and his model of analysing society in long-term perspective. Elias helps us understand why precarious youth employment is set against an assumed 'gold standard' of full-time, permanent employment in some analyses. Elias was concerned with long-term processes in the development of human societies, which he called 'civilising processes'. The chapter further highlights Elias's assertion that the social role of young people is ambiguous, especially during transitional periods in the life course when their roles lack clarity.
