Abstract
Youth is one of the most interesting and keenly observed phenomena the world over. Many sociologists (Keniston 1971; Doughlas 1970; Moller 1968) have noted that prolongation of education due to the requirements of economic life in modern age has opened up opportunities for an extension of psychological development, which in turn is creating a new stage of life called youth. This is not to suggest that youth is in an absolute sense a new developmental stage and unique to the modern era. But what is ‘new’ is that this extended stage of life is being entered not by tiny minorities of young men and women but by large number of people.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
The Naxal Movement traces its origin to 1967 in a village called Naxalbari in West Bengal in India from where a rebellion emerged amongst the peasants who retaliated against their oppression and started forcefully capturing their lands from the feudal lords. Within a short span, it acquired great visibility and support from cross sections of communist revolutionaries in different states. The dominant faction of Naxalites believed in ‘annihilation of the class enemy’ and adopted ‘allegiance to the armed struggle and non participation in the elections’ as their cardinal principles to secure justice to poorest of peasants and tribals. Since its inception, the Naxal Movement has witnessed internal divisions along the ideological basis and forms of struggle, but its presence is still strong amongst few of the poorest districts of the country.
- 3.
Why India needs a Second October? (2007, October 2). The Times of India, New Delhi, p. 2.
- 4.
The core idea of VHP is to create a self-conscious Hindu identity and make it coterminous with Indian nationalism. Thus, the Ramjanmabhumi issue, one of the most vital issues for the outfit, is ‘not a quarrel about a small piece of land. It is a question of national integrity’. The Rama temple, then, is a response to the mourning of Hindu society: a mourning for lost honour, lost civilization, lost Hinduness. The name of the Dal invokes the imagery of the army of monkey warriors in the Ramayana, led by their king Hanuman, also known as Bajrang. No efforts are spared by the functionaries of the Dal to reiterate that Hanuman was the most devoted and obedient of all disciples of Lord Ram and fought on the side of the lord against the demon king Ravana to ensure the triumph of good over evil.
- 5.
See Erikson (1968).
- 6.
Ibid.
- 7.
See Erikson (1950).
- 8.
See Erikson (1968).
- 9.
Ibid.
- 10.
See Erikson (1964).
- 11.
See Erikson (1974).
- 12.
A view on autonomy that differs from the perspective of ‘autonomy as separation’ is ‘autonomy as agency’. Adherents of this view (Kagitcibasi 1996; Ryan 1993; Ryan and Deci 2000) use notions like internal locus of control, self-determination, strong sense of confidence, ability to function independently and competence to describe autonomy.
- 13.
See Erikson (1979).
- 14.
Kakar (1990) refers to certain conventions of ‘psychoanalytic competence’ formulated by Donald Spence (1982) that affect the analyst’s overall understanding of the material and his sense of the important units of meaning. First, thematic coherence, namely, that there is underlying commonality among separate, discrete details. Second, thematic continuity which means in spite of the narrative’s detours and discontinuities, the original theme recurs. Third, thematic significance, which holds that significant issues are always under discussion, no matter how trivial the details.
- 15.
Emerging adulthood, a term that in recent times have replaced the term ‘youth’, is conceptualised as beginning with the end of secondary education, usually age 18, and ending in mid- to late 20s for most people as the experimentation of the period is succeeded by more enduring life choices (Arnett 1998).
- 16.
Erikson refers to these two groups, in his time, as the technological and neo-humanist youth. He asks, ‘For does not an interplay between a new dominant class of specialists—those who “know what they are doing”–and an intense new group of universalists—those who “mean what they are saying”—always determine the identity possibilities of an age?’ (1968, p. 36).
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Bansal, P. (2012). Identity in Youth: Conceptual and Methodological Underpinnings. In: Youth in Contemporary India. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-0715-3_1
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