This book argues that with the rise of market fundamentalism and the
ensuing economic and financial crisis, youth are facing a crisis unlike
that of any other generation. With the collapse of the welfare state,
youth are no longer seen as a social investment but as troubling and, in
some cases, disposable, especially poor minority youth. Caught between
the discourses of consumerism and a powerful crime-control-complex,
young people are increasingly either viewed as commodities or are
subjected to the dictates of an ever expanding criminal justice system.
Constructing a new analytic of youth, Giroux explores the current
conditions of young people and their everyday experiences within this
emerging crime complex, a politics of disposability, and the ever
present market-driven forces of commercialization and commodification.
Drawing upon the work of theorists such as Zygmunt Bauman, Judith
Butler, Agamben, Foucault, and others as a theoretical foundation for
addressing the growth of a rigid market fundamentalism and a punishing
state, Giroux explores both the increasing militarization and
commercialization of schools and other public spheres, and what can
happen to a society in which young people are increasingly portrayed as
dangerous and, hence, no longer appear to be a referent for a democratic
future. But Giroux does more than examine the implications this new war
on youth has for American society, he also analyses the role that
educators, parents, intellectuals, and others can play in both
challenging the plight of young people deepening and extending the
promise of a better future and a sustainable and viable democracy. http:
//www.henryagiroux.com/
