Youth, Skills and Education

The book critically examines psycho-educational developmental interventions that arguably contribute to 'Positive Youth Development', especially for marginalized youth conceived to be at-risk. Tracing the growth and circulation of these programmes from the Global North to South, the book shows how these interventions seek cultivate youth as entrepreneurial citizens who can cater to global developmental agendas. Using Life Skills Education programmes in India as an illustration, the book locates these programmes within the larger context of neo-liberalization of education and training globally, through programmes for social-emotional learning, personality, employability and vocational skills. It shows how such programmes cultivate an ethic of self-responsibility amongst 'youth at-risk', to overcome structural disadvantages by working upon themselves. However, socio-cultural disconnects and youth agencies that emerge during programme implementation do not allow for straightforward replication of global neoliberal agendas. Closely examining the outcomes of programmes on youth, the book presents alternative agendas that can be truly empowering for young people in the Global South. Educators, policy makers, scholars and students working in the areas of Education, Childhood and Youth Studies, Development Studies and Psychology benefit from the book's in-depth analysis of young people's expectations of education and developmental interventions, and how these programmes impact young people's lives.