(Re)Imagining Youth: A Comparative Sociology of Youth Leisure in Scotland and Hong Kong

In recent years, the 'global' question has become central to debate in the social sciences. For some, processes of globalisation have created increased homogeneity of culture in geographically diverse communities; for others, the effects of globalisation are both heterogeneous and unpredictable, as global and local cultures conflict and merge (Appadurai 1996). Such debates are all the more prescient in non-Western settings, as postcolonial perspectives challenge Western analyses of culture and identity (Said 1978; Spivak 1999). Layered into these seemingly new debates, however, are longstanding sociological issues relating to class, place and identity; access to 'global' culture remains sharply stratified by access to resources (Bauman 1998, 2000a). These debates have a particular resonance with young people, who experience both the precariousness of the global economy (Furlong and Cartmel 2007), and the leading-edge of global consumer culture (Young 1999). Comparative study of youth between East and West, therefore, has the potential to interrogate theoretical debates relating to globalisation, postcolonialism and culture in a way that is both timely and targeted (Giddens 2002; Robertson 1995; Bauman 2000b).

(Re)Imagining Youth aims to engage with these debates through analysis of continuity and change in youth leisure in two geographically and culturally diverse research sites: Scotland and Hong Kong. The study adopts a historical and cross-cultural comparative design, building on landmark research carried out in both study locations by the pioneering sociologist Pearl Jephcott (1967, 1971). Scotland and Hong Kong have experienced economic convergence since these studies were published, yet remain culturally distinct; thus creating a unique test-bed for analysis of global and local forces on youth leisure in a comparative context. Areas of thematic convergence and divergence include, for example, street-based vs. on-line leisure; structured vs. unstructured leisure; youth transitions; work and education; 'risky' leisure (drinking, smoking, gambling, fighting, offending); consumerism and consumption.

Responding to recent calls for new forms of global qualitative methodologies (Burawoy 2000; Kenway and Faley 2009; Wacquant 2008), the study will involve concurrent data-collection in case-study locations in Scotland and Hong Kong - including ethnographic observations, stakeholder interviews, focus group discussions, oral history interviews, and on-line data-collection - using common procedures to ensure comparability. Approximately 150 young people aged 16-24, with a cross-section of age, gender, socio-economic background, and work/study status, will be recruited through local youth organisations in both case-study locations (preliminary agreements in place). In addition, in recognition of the increasing importance of on-line leisure spaces for young people, these methods will be complemented by a range of ethnographic and interview data from young people's online environments. Together, these data will allow for a unique contribution to a range of academic and public debates at local, national and international levels.

Beyond academia, the main beneficiaries of the research will be policymakers in local and national government, Third Sector organisations, professionals and practitioners working with young people (including play and youth workers, social workers, youth justice practitioners and community safety teams), as well as young people and their communities.

In each of the study sites, inter-generational issues pertaining to young people and leisure habits have become prominent in recent years. In Scotland, the so-called 'Glasgow Effect' - persistently high rates of ill-health and mortality that far exceed predictable levels, to an extent that is neither predicted nor explained by the most sophisticated statistical analyses - has been attributed to deeply-entrenched habits, through which health behaviours are transmitted between generations (Walsh et al 2010). In Hong Kong, there has been increasing alarm relating to the so-called 'post-80s' and 'post-90s' generations of young people (deGolyer 2010) which are perceived to be more radical and politicised than previous generations; alongside popular alarm relating to 'young night drifters' who are marginalised from mainstream society (Lee 2000; Groves et al 2011). In both locations, therefore - though in different ways - there is both public and political interest in the impact of structural change on the habits and behaviours of young people. The unique vantage point offered by this research project - allowing for both historical and cross-cultural comparison - will yield a range of policy insights that will be of interest to a non-academic audience. Analysing young people's leisure habits in this way has the potential to illuminate the broader social processes involved in the transmission of deep-rooted traits and sensibilities; as well as supplying critical insights from a cross-cultural perspective with which to view public policy through fresh eyes.

We aim for our research to be used to: inform public policy relating to children and young people; improve the delivery of public and private services, particularly leisure provision, for young people; enhance the quality of life, health and creative output of young people and their communities. To this end, two half-day dissemination seminars will be held towards the end of the project - one each in Glasgow and Hong Kong - incorporating both academic and non-academic participants. A short, non-technical pamphlet summarising key research findings will be prepared for dissemination at these events, and posted on the project website, alongside a podcast of the key presentations. We will promote these events through our blog and Twitter feed.

At a local level, the principles of participation and co-production that were central to Jephcott's original study will also form a core aspect in the impact planning for the study. We intend to establish a youth advisory group (comprised of young people who participated in one of our previous research projects) and a research advisory group (which will include a range of key stakeholders), to assist with research design and practitioner-relevance. We will explore developing partnerships with national organizations which promote youth participation and with relevant local organizations (see 'Pathways to impact'). Finally, the project will seek to engage and empower community partners, utilising in-depth methods (including participatory visual and online methods) designed to enable participants to co-produce data for the project. We will engage in community-based knowledge-exchange via two public exhibitions of images and other materials generated as part of the study, with invitations extended to a selection of research participants, their friends and family, and representatives of participating organisations.