Renowned author Ulrike Schuerkens presents an in-depth exploration of social transformations and developments. Combining an international approach with up-to-date research, the book: Has dedicated chapters on contemporary topics including technology, new media, war and terror, political culture and inequality Includes an analysis of societal structures – inequality, globalization, transnationalism Contains learning features including: discussion questions, annotated further reading, chapter summaries and pointers to online resources to assist with study A must buy for students taking modules in social change, social inequality, social theory and globalization.
How are youth cultural identities rooted in gender, ethnicity, and place? What resources do young people from ethnic minorities use in creating their cultural identities? Drawing upon interdisciplinary research, Ulrike Ziemer's case study demonstrates the different ways in which young people from ethnic minorities respond to the social, political, and cultural transformations of post-Soviet Russia and provides a detailed analysis of how local vs. global relations are experienced outside the West. Relying on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, Ziemer explores the complex processes of identity formation and cultural experiences among young Armenians in Krasnodar krai and young Adyghs in the Republic of Adyghea. Both ethnic groups, Armenians and Adyghs, have a minority status in Russia, yet Adyghs are indigenous to the region while Armenians constitute a diaspora people. This book is the first specific examination of Armenian and Adygh youth identities in the context of everyday life experiences in post-Soviet Russia.
Heartbreaking images of children in distress have propelled some of the most urgent calls for action on immigration crises. While we might feel a personal impulse to help the vulnerable, this often extends to state asylum policies. In Forever 17, sociologist Ulrike Bialas follows young African and Central Asian migrants in Germany as they navigate an immigration system engineered to protect minors. Without official paperwork or even knowledge of their exact age, migrants must decide how to present their complicated life stories to government officials. Age in particular often has an outsized effect on their cases. A migrant under 18 can't be deported, for instance, but might be placed in a youth home with strict curfew laws that are especially infantilizing as peers at home begin to start families. An 18-year-old adult will have permission to work, but not opportunities to go to school. And a 15-year-old mother will be separated from her child. No matter their age or "choice" of age, migrants face psychological burdens as well as practical barriers. But the psychological and practical burdens don't exclusively affect migrants. Bialas also spends time with the social workers and doctors charged with determining a migrant's age and national origins. Though Germany's infamous bureaucracy is constructed to issue clear statements about refugees, the truth is often more complicated. Social workers and doctors grapple with the difficult implications of their decisions. Ultimately, Bialas shows, policies surrounding asylum seekers and other immigrants fall dramatically short of their humanitarian ideals. Even those policies designed to help the most vulnerable can lead to outcomes that drastically limit the possibilities for migrants in real need of asylum and impede them from leading fulfilling lives"--
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