Young People, Leisure and Place: Cross Cultural Perspectives

Margaret Robertson · Michael Williams

Jan 2004 · Nova Publishers

About this ebook

Young People, Leisure and Place reports on cross-cultural research into the personal geographies of young people. It explores young people's leisure and recreational pursuits, including favourite places, and.offers a tentative theory of adolescent thinking and development. The major themes explored are the impact of globalisation on young people, their reference systems and their use of private and public spaces. Evidence is presented of global, national and local dimensions of growing up in different countries in a post-modern world. The book contributes to a better understanding of issues of contemporary citizenship in a globalised world where the commodification of knowledge blurs boundaries and values. Effective citizenship in a world of time-space compression and instant access to diverse sources of information is problematic. This book provides a fascinating insight into the discerning values of young people. As they reveal their hopes and dreams within the knowledge society, the young people involved in this cross-cultural enquiry also highlight their conservatism and the traditional core values associated with their homes and families.

About the author

Michael Williams is an historian of the Chinese diaspora and is a founding member of the Chinese Australian Historical Society. His current research involves a history of the dictation test, a history of Chinese opera in Australia, and a comparison of Australiaâs pre-1949 Chinese-Australian history with its post-1989 history. Michael is an adjunct fellow with the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University and is the author of Returning Home with Glory (Hong Kong University Press, 2018). Michael also teaches courses in Australian history and Chinese in the world at Beijing Foreign Studies University.