Coming of Age in Times of Uncertainty

Born in Austria, Harry Blatterer came to Australia as a professional musician nearly two decades ago. Following his studies in German Studies (BA Hons) and Sociology (PhD) he was appointed Visiting Research Associate at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, in 2005.

• AcknowledgementsPrefacePeter BeilharzIntroductionChapter 1. Representations of AdulthoodChapter 2. Adulthood, Individualization, and the Life CourseChapter 3. Adulthood and Social RecognitionChapter 4. From Adulthood as a Goal to Youth as a ValueChapter 5. New Adult Voices I: The Meaning of AdulthoodChapter 6. New Adult Voices II: Without a Center that HoldsConclusion: Redefining AdulthoodEpilogueBibliography

"...this book will be useful for scholars and students who want to explore and grasp the meaning of being an adult today. What is especially interesting is how the author expounds his main premise. Blatterer's arguments are grounded on the work of traditional sociology theorists (e.g. Durkheim, Weber), and he also critically explores theories of individualization, the life course, and biography of modernity (e.g. Bauman, Beck, Giddens, Honneth).Within this theoretical framework, the author engages in a discussion of emerging social trends and compares them to the traditional and normative model that precedes them." · Sociology"[This book] constitutes a novel and sophisticated approach to the study of age in and beyond the Western context primarily analysed by Blatterer... [and] will appeal not only to scholars interested in age studies, but also to a wider readership, in and beyond academia, with an interest in understanding the ways in which neoliberal transformations affect and impinge on the life of people in novel and unprecedented ways...this book is a timely and informed addition to an emerging critical scholarship of neoliberalism." · JRAI"Impatient with popular and academic hand-wringing over 'prolonged adolescence' (or young people's unwillingness to grow up), Blatterer in this overdue sociological treatise on the changing nature of adulthood in Western society counters that such judgments unfairly draw on obsolete norms of adulthood... Blatterer's writing is eloquent...his arguments are well considered, important, and thought-provoking." · Choice