The Invention of the Teenager and Youth Movements

Tags: aging/life course, children/youth, consumption/consumerism, social construction, social mvmts/social change/resistance, critical youth studies, youth movements, 00 to 05 mins
Year: 2011
Length: 4:25
Access: New York Times

Summary: This Op-Doc from the New York Times is a video excerpt from Matt Wolf's and Jon Savage's film Teenage. The clip chronicles the development of "teenager" as a new social category, invented in America following World War II, and conceived of as a previously untapped market of new consumers. Yet the current global economic crisis has tested the limits of adolescent consumer power, as youth unemployment is high and many teenagers are no longer able to shop as they did in past decades. The clip is especially relevant in that it provides a brief overview of the history and power of youth social movements, and it connects this to contemporary youth movements happening around the globe. This video would be good to use in a sociology class on the life course or social movements. Click here to watch a "teaser" of the film and read some background on the project, and click here to read a short New York Times article that accompanies the Op-Doc video.

Submitted By: Valerie Chepp

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