Telling Young Lives: Portraits of Global Youth

Jeffrey and Dyson, professors at the University of Washington, have collected a series of “portraits” of young people between the ages of 16 and 30 that connect their personal stories to larger political and sociological narratives. The 13 vignettes that make up the book document the lives of young people from around the globe, including diary entries and photos taken by the subjects. The editors have been careful to include examples from a variety of regions, such as the rural Himalayas, urban Edinburgh and the streets of New York City. Each chapter provides insight not only into the life being examined but also the youth's political and social milieu. Many provide helpful, if limited, historical context for those unfamiliar with the details of apartheid South Africa or the Balkan conflicts, while personalizing themes of globalization, alienation and changing modes of political participation. The book has an obvious critical theory bent; while eschewing most jargon and cumbersome academic citations, the editors acknowledge the influence of “postcolonial and feminist approaches to knowledge construction.” The range of subjects and the accessibility of the writing make this a valuable complement to more theoretical texts and undeniably useful in the classroom. (Oct.)