Studying the Problems of Youth 'Transitions' in European Countries

Старкин С.В., Приписнова Е.С.

doi:10.7256/2454-0676.2023.1.37564

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Pedagogy and education

Reference:

Starkin S.V., Pripisnova E.S. Studying the Problems of Youth "Transitions" in European Countries // Pedagogy and education. 2023. № 1. P. 116-126. DOI: 10.7256/2454-0676.2023.1.37564 EDN: LLJOPQ URL: https://en.nbpublish.com/library_read_article.php?id=37564

Studying the Problems of Youth "Transitions" in European Countries

Starkin Sergey Valer'evich

Doctor of Politics

Professor, the department of Political Science, Institute of International Relations and World History of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod; Leading Scientific Associate, International Interdisciplinary Laboratory "Study of Global and Regional Socio-Political Processes", N. A. Dobrolyubov State Linguistic University of Nizhny Novgorod

603000, Russia, g. Nizhnii Novgorod, ul. Ul'yanova, 1, kab. 307

starkinserge@mail.ru

Other publications by this author

Pripisnova Elena Sergeevna

PhD in Politics

Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod State University

603000, Russia, Nizhegorordskaya oblast', g. Nizhnii Novgorod, ul. Ul'yanova, 2, of. 312

poskr011@mail.ru

Other publications by this author

DOI:

10.7256/2454-0676.2023.1.37564

EDN:

LLJOPQ

Received:

17-02-2022

Published:

04-04-2023

Abstract: This article analyzes the research on European youth policy. The subject of the study is the main trends, typology, and principles of functioning of youth "transitions" in European countries. The need to study the phenomenon of youth "transitions" is relevant and timely as today, there is no generally accepted view on the ways to study these processes. The methodological basis of the study was analysis and synthesis, as well as institutional, systemic, and comparative approaches. Based on the studied material, the authors conclude that when considering strategies for youth "transitions," it is necessary to consider several institutional areas, such as the type of socially-oriented state and the specifics of the transition from study to work. The interaction of these strategies provides different models of youth transitions. These studies highlight important interethnic differences depending on the modes of distribution of social assistance, types of capitalism, as well as growth strategies. Thus, we have considered various strategies for structuring the transition to adulthood: to explain the different models of youth "transitions," it is necessary to consider several institutional areas, such as the type of socially oriented state and the specifics of the transition from study to work. The interaction of these strategies gives different models of youth transitions. Although many European researchers argue that age policy is important in this regard due to the aging of society and the growth of "gray power," most of the works devoted to this issue actually refute the hypothesis of bias in favor of the elderly: these studies emphasize important interethnic differences depending on the modes of distribution of social assistance, types of capitalism, as well as growth strategies. As a result, we conclude that young people should be considered part of society as a whole, and, therefore, to understand how they move into adulthood, it is necessary to see the full institutional, political, and economic picture.

Keywords:

young people, social security, youth policy, youth transitions, European states, welfare state, typology of youth transitions, youth transition patterns, social citizenship, education system

References

1. Van de Velde, C. (2008). Devenir Adulte: Sociologie comparеe de la jeunesse en Europe. Paris, p. 218.
2. Bourdieu, P. (1980). Questions de sociologie. Paris. pp. 143–154.
3. Mayer, K.U. & Schoepflin, U. (1989). The state and the life course. Annual Review of Sociology, 15. pp. 187–209.
4. Lesnard, L., Cousteaux, A.-S., Chanvril, F. & Le Hay, V. (2016). Do transitions to adulthood converge in Europe? Optimal matching analysis of work-family trajectories of men and women from 20 European countries. European Sociological Review, 32, pp. 355–369.
5. Walther, A. (2006). Regimes of youth transitions: Choice, flexibility, and security in young people's experiences across different European contexts. Young, 14, pp. 119–139.
6. Walther, A. (2006). Regimes of youth transitions: Choice, flexibility, and security in young people's experiences across different European contexts. Young, 14, pp. 119–139.
7. Maurice, M., Sellier, F. & Silvestre, J.-J. (1982). Politique d’еducation et organisation industrielle en France et en Allemagne. Paris. p. 176.
8. Garonna, P. & Ryan, P. (1989). Le travail des jeunes, les relations professionnelles et les politiques sociales dans les еconomies advances. Formation Emploi, 25, pp. 78–90.
9. Van de Velde, C. (2008). Devenir Adulte: Sociologie comparеe de la jeunesse en Europe. Paris. p. 114.
10. Chevalier, T. (2016). Varieties of youth welfare citizenship: Towards a two-dimension typology. Journal of European Social Policy, 26, pp. 3–18.
11. OECD. (2010). Off to a good start? Jobs for youth. p. 175.
12. Bonoli, G. (2010). The political economy of active labor-market policy. Politics and Society, 38, pp. 435–457.

First Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

This article is devoted to topical issues for modern social science, namely the peculiarities of youth policy, socialization of youth in Europe, which constitute the key subject area of Youth Studies. In the presented study, the author attempts to actualize large theoretical models that describe the conceptual foundations of the "transition" of youth into the economy: it implies the study of a full-fledged cycle of education, education and social support for young citizens, their involvement in a full-fledged social life. The author structures in great detail both the methodology of the research and its scientific and practical significance from the point of view of the possible application of flexible approaches that allow adapting state youth policy to the rapidly changing conditions of the information society and economic markets. The article is very well structured in accordance with all generally accepted rules of scientific publications: there is an introductory, main, and final part, articulates the main conclusions of the study, indicating the effectiveness of specific strategies and models of youth transitions. The list of references is mainly presented by foreign studies, which undoubtedly makes up a good bibliographic base for the publication, however, it is not entirely clear why the author does not use domestic sources, which analyze in sufficient detail the key strategies and approaches of youth policy not only in the Russian Federation, but also in the European space (for example, D.A. Fedotov). At the same time, I would like to emphasize the choice of a methodology that is adequate for the set goals and objectives of the study, which combines comparative methods and structural and functional analysis, supported by a doctrinal study of normative legal documents in the field of youth policy. The article is a full-fledged comprehensive study, but thematically it does not fully correlate with the problems of the publication "Pedagogy and Education", which is aimed at finding new strategies and approaches in teaching and education. The issues of state youth policy are explored to a greater extent in the margins of the publications "Law and Politics", "Politics and Society", "Sociodynamics" Nota Bene. Also, the study would do well to formulate a problematic component in connection with the processes taking place in the European Union in the field of cultural, educational and youth policy. The list of practical recommendations of the author on the introduction of effective models of youth transition in democratic states is not quite clearly formulated. And in this regard, the title of the article does not look quite well, the word "Problem" should not be indicated in the title, and the title should reflect the main research question of the submitted publication. There is also no controversy with other researchers, the degree of scientific elaboration of this issue has not been sufficiently analyzed, and no empirical data or statistical information illustrating the effectiveness of the application of certain youth strategies has been presented. The article is done at a good scientific level, but needs to be improved. After making the corrections indicated above, it can be sent for review again.

Second Peer Review

The article is devoted to the study of the problems of youth transitions in European countries. Given the increasing instability of modern societies, as well as crises in youth consciousness caused by liminal situations in which young people find themselves during the transition from one stage of life to another, the relevance of the topic under study cannot be overestimated. His methods fully correspond to the chosen subject of research. The methodology used in the work, in addition to general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, etc., included institutional, systemic, comparative and cultural-historical methods that allowed us to obtain non-trivial results with signs of scientific novelty. First of all, the author's conclusion is of scientific interest that there is a connection between the strategies of youth "transitions" and the institutional environment of various spheres of modern society (social protection, education, labor market, etc.), which gives a rather highly diversified picture for different countries. In addition, the author's polemical position regarding the widespread notion in the scientific literature about the importance of the "gray power" influencing youth "transitions" is of particular interest, while the author of the reviewed work joins studies demonstrating the dependence of these "transitions" on national differences, social assistance distribution regimes, types of capitalism and others . But the conclusions that young people should be considered as part of society as a whole, as well as that the models of "youth policy" and youth "transitions" need further study, can hardly be considered innovative. The work is well structured. The following sections are highlighted in the text: "Introduction", "Typology of youth "transitions"", "Models of youth "transitions" in Europe", "Models of social citizenship of youth", "Conclusion". The "Introduction" substantiates the relevance of studying the problems of youth "transitions", the theoretical and methodological choice, as well as the general logic and structure of the study. The second and third sections of the work are devoted to the critical analysis of several typologies of youth "transitions" proposed by various authors. The second section analyzes the typologies of A. Walter, M. Maurice, P. Ryan and P. Garonne, etc. In the third section, the author dwells in detail on the analysis of the typology of S. van de Velde's social protection models. Why it was necessary to allocate two sections to address the same problem is not entirely clear. Nevertheless, the general conclusion based on the results of the analysis may well be accepted: the author suggests distinguishing between two types of state intervention in the processes of "transitions" of youth – strategies in the field of education and employment (the problem of "economic citizenship"), and social strategies for helping youth through various benefits (this is the problem of "social citizenship"). A more detailed consideration of these two models (or "strategies" or "dimensions" – judging by the context, these concepts are interchangeable with the author) is devoted to the fourth block, which for some reason is called "Models of social citizenship of youth", but pays much attention to the analysis of strategies not only of "social", but also of "economic citizenship", and concludes with a proposal to integrate both "dimensions" – "social" and "economic" – in one typology of four models of "social citizenship". In terms of style and content, the work may well be qualified as a scientific study written in good scientific language, using special terminology (despite some confusion in terms), and having non-trivial scientific results. There are some minor grammatical errors in the text of the article (for example, a missing word in the sentence "In we come to the conclusion that youth ..." or an uncoordinated "... Models of "youth policy" and youth "transitions" need ..."), but in general it is written competently. The bibliography includes 12 titles, including sources in foreign languages, and sufficiently reflects the state of affairs in the field of scientific knowledge under study. The appeal to the opponents takes place in terms of a critical analysis of the typologies of youth "transitions" proposed by various authors. However, despite the overall positive impression, there are some shortcomings in the article that need to be improved. First of all, you need to carefully proofread the text and correct grammatical errors. It is also necessary to consider the categorization of the sections of the work for the adequacy of the headings to the content of the sections. In addition, it would be useful to better reflect on the methodology used in the research process, for example, to think about whether institutional and formal logical methods were used, as well as the "method of retrospective analysis". The number of methods declared by the author is enough for a dissertation, but the results are only for a small article. Conclusions, the interest of the readership: the work submitted for review corresponds to the subject of the journal "Pedagogy and Education", will be of interest to political scientists, sociologists, specialists in the field of pedagogy, as well as the social sphere. After minor revision, the article can be recommended for publication.

Third Peer Review

The article "Studying the problems of youth "transitions" in European countries" submitted for review is devoted to the urgent problem of studying the characteristics of youth and their behavior (social, economic, civil, etc.) and the analysis of "models of youth transitions". The subject of the study is the main trends, typology and principles of functioning of youth "transitions" in European countries. We agree with the authors that by researching and identifying patterns of youth development as a social stratum in Europe, the state's policy towards the younger generation, it is possible to adopt positive experience and avoid mistakes in youth policy, since this state policy in Russia does not have sufficient traditions and experience of effective functioning. The methodological basis of the study is based on institutional, systemic and comparative approaches. The socio-political reflection of the subject of the study dictated the originality of the chosen methodology. Based on the need to consider models of youth policy, the authors used the following methods as the main ones. 1. The method of comparative analysis, on the basis of which the analysis of various methods of studying youth policy was carried out. 2. The institutional method. 4. A cultural and historical method that allowed us to study the changes in social strata within the state as a whole. In addition, the formal logical method and the method of "retrospective analysis" were also used in the research process. The content of the study includes an analysis of typologies of youth transitions, models of youth transitions and models of social citizenship of youth. Thus, the authors identify four models of social citizenship of young people: "securing citizenship" (individualization and inclusive strategy) of the Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands); "controlled citizenship" (family and inclusive strategy) of continental countries with a vocational training system (Germany, Austria); "denial of citizenship" (family and electoral strategy) of the Mediterranean countries (Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, France, Belgium and Luxembourg); and "second class citizenship" (individualization and electoral strategy) of the Anglo-Saxon countries (Great Britain and Ireland). In conclusion, the authors present the main conclusions based on the results of the study, including: that young people should be considered as part of society as a whole, and therefore, in order to understand how they move into adulthood, you need to see the full institutional, political and economic picture. In general, it can be assumed that the models of "youth policy" and youth "transitions" need further study, filling in certain gaps and answers to a number of topical issues. The material of the article is structured, presented logically, and reasoned. The research material is presented in good scientific language. The bibliographic list contains 12 sources. All sources are foreign. Considering the above, we recommend the article "Studying the problems of youth "transitions" in European countries" for publication.

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Studying the Problems of Youth "Transitions" in European Countries