Arab Youth: A Contained Youth?
Young people in the Arab world increasingly have to struggle with economic hardship and difficulties to start their own lives, although the majority is better educated than ever before. The problematic labor market situation combined with weak public schemes to support young careers force large sections of young people to postpone their ambitions to marry. This period of delayed marriage is captured as 'waithood'. I will argue that this term is misleading. Two points of critique apply: The social dimension of waiting exceeds the status of remaining inactive until something expected happens; the ever-changing present continuously generates new realities. Simultaneously uncertainties and insecurities have dramatically expanded since 2011 and further limit livelihood opportunities and future perspectives, particularly of the youth. Young people are hence becoming both, increasingly frustrated and disadvantaged the longer they "wait", and even more dependent on parents and kin networks. This hinders them to develop their personality – they rather have to accommodate with values that are not always suitable to master the present requirements of a globalizing world. In this paper I will inquire, in how far young people of the Arab world have thus to be considered as a “contained youth”.
urn:nbn:de:hebis:04-ep0003-2017-191-72180
https://doi.org/10.17192/meta.2017.9.7218
2017
urn:nbn:de:hebis:04-ep0003-2017-191-72180
Arab Youth: A Contained Youth?
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article
Gertel, Joerg
Gertel
Joerg
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Publikationsserver der Universitätsbibliothek Marburg
Universitätsbibliothek Marburg
https://doi.org/10.17192/meta.2017.9.7218
English
2017-12-08
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Young people in the Arab world increasingly have to struggle with economic hardship and difficulties to start their own lives, although the majority is better educated than ever before. The problematic labor market situation combined with weak public schemes to support young careers force large sections of young people to postpone their ambitions to marry. This period of delayed marriage is captured as 'waithood'. I will argue that this term is misleading. Two points of critique apply: The social dimension of waiting exceeds the status of remaining inactive until something expected happens; the ever-changing present continuously generates new realities. Simultaneously uncertainties and insecurities have dramatically expanded since 2011 and further limit livelihood opportunities and future perspectives, particularly of the youth. Young people are hence becoming both, increasingly frustrated and disadvantaged the longer they "wait", and even more dependent on parents and kin networks. This hinders them to develop their personality – they rather have to accommodate with values that are not always suitable to master the present requirements of a globalizing world. In this paper I will inquire, in how far young people of the Arab world have thus to be considered as a “contained youth”.
urn:nbn:de:hebis:04-ep0003-2017-1914
https://doi.org/10.17192/meta.2017.9.191
2017
Periodical
Philipps-Universität Marburg
urn:nbn:de:hebis:04-ep00032
General history of Asia; Middle East
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2196-629X
2714728-9
2013
Middle East - Topics + Arguments
Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS)
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https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/2017/191/cover.png
Youth
PeriodicalPart
Vol 9 (2017)
2017-12-08
9
2017-12-08
2018-01-31
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